ANZSOG/CDU Microcredential gives a deeper understanding of First Nations policy

Building public sector capability to work with First Nations communities goes far beyond cultural awareness programs. It requires ongoing learning to deepen understanding of First Nations culture and the historical forces that have shaped relationships between governments and First Nations communities. 

ANZSOG has partnered with Charles Darwin University (CDU) to develop the Policy Frameworks and First Nations Relations microcredential, first delivered in 2024 and offered again this year. This program is accredited by CDU as part of a broader suite of First Nations public administration microcredentials planned between ANZSOG and the university.   

Greg Williams, Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Engagement at Charles Darwin University, will head the Policy Frameworks and First Nations Relations course. 

He says public servants have a remit to serve the whole community, which gives them an obligation to think more explicitly about the way they do things and how the underlying assumptions that informed their policy decisions impact on First Nations communities.  

“For those of us who come from a settler or immigrant background, it’s very easy to live immersed in the institutions and structures and systems of colonial Australia and not recognise that very little of that works effectively for Indigenous Australians.” 

“We need to pay attention to what has happened in the past, so then we can think carefully about how that changes our approach to policy work in the present and future.”  

Mr Williams said that there had been positive changes in recent decades and signs that people within the public sector were shifting and thinking more about these issues. 

“But we need to be looking at what we are doing, and why we do it. It requires a deeper dive into our motivations and sometimes we can be surprised by the things that can shape and influence our thoughts and actions. When we interrogate our own deep and often implicit motivations that’s the point at which the changes in policy approaches can begin to occur,” he said. 

“A significant part of this course is encouraging people to thinking about the things that they assume, or that they ‘don’t know they don’t know’. I believe that all public servants need to do some of this ‘knowledge work’, which can be quite philosophical and challenging, but it is how you effect a shift in the policy space.” 

Darwin-based Valli Camara is Director Indigenous & Remote Operations, Regulatory Campaigns & Projects, at the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Commission and was part of the inaugural cohort in 2024. 

“About eight months prior to me doing the course, we’d done a restructure, and created a new team called the Indigenous Remote Operations Team, and I’m the director of that team,” Ms Camara said.  

“I thought doing the course was important because while I’ve worked in the Territory for a long time, you never know everything. I thought it would be a great opportunity just to listen and look at different ways that I might be able to put the team together for the work we’re going to do, particularly in engagement with remote communities.” 

“We’re the regulator for NDIS providers, and my team was set up to go out to remote communities to listen and understand what issues people are facing in terms of NDIS services in the communities, but also try to really empower participants and families, and get them to understand the NDIS, what participants’ rights are and how can they make complaints.” 

“The program allowed me to put some evidence and theory behind why face-to-face engagement is so important in the work that we do, and we can’t rely just on virtual engagement.” 

“The focus on culture and connection was really important because obviously disability and disability supports are really important for us, but for people in community, there’s other things that are far more important to them, access to clean water, access to food and housing, et cetera.  

“So it’s about building that connection with the communities, because maybe in three visits, once people have heard, they’ve seen us, we’ve got that trust and relationship, maybe then we can get to the conversation part. Whereas from a Western perspective we get straight into business. 

“Greg’s style really worked for me. He had so much knowledge and was able to really link examples and theory really well. He was really good at getting people to be part of the conversation and raising what they were thinking or their experiences.” 

Moving to a relation-based approach

Mr Williams said the course used a conceptual tool called the ‘working imaginary’ which asked students consider the way in which their knowledge is provisional and limited by experience and to try to avoid universalising knowledge and projecting their own experiences on to First Nation peoples. 

The course also focuses on moving away from a transactional to a relation-based approach to First Nations communities. 

“We all work in a relational way. We’ve all got significant others, parents, children etc. We know how you need to pay attention to relationships and the work you do in maintaining and building them. So, it’s not something new. It’s just that we’re not necessarily used to thinking like this when it comes to First Nations communities.” 

“A really telling example in communities up here in the Northern Territory, is the entourage of people that are arriving each day to carry out their meetings and consultations, getting them done by 4.30pm when the plane takes off again to take them back into the city.  

“That’s a transactional approach to consultative work. A practical way to start moving to a relational approach is to spend more time, be open to the possibility of doing things which are not necessarily related to why you think you’re there, such as going fishing, to build those relationships that you need. It’s harder because time is money, but building relation helps to see the world from someone else’s perspective” 

Mr Williams said that the program aimed to cover a range of First Nations perspectives through readings and other activities. 

“First Nation staff who work with me on the program, bring their perspectives to the program, and we also draw on readings from people across the country, and from First Nations groups in Canada and Aotearoa and the US. 

“We want to go beyond basic cultural awareness programs and become something that turns that ‘knowing’ into ‘doing’, going from awareness to responsiveness and starting the journey of exploring your own understanding of the way in which you do your work.”  

Ms Camara said that the program had been a great opportunity to shift her thinking and understand how First Nations negative experiences with government shaped relations today. 

“It’s a reminder that when we’re working in this space we need to be mindful about how we engage and be respectful of culture and connections,” she said. 

“The course is really valuable, particularly if you don’t have much experience of engaging with First Nations, and want some theory that gives you a good basis to form plans about how you are going to work. 

“If you are a non-Indigenous public servant, unless you’ve had exposure and engagement and interaction, you’re often quite ignorant to some of the issues that First Nations people face. People think they can do one cultural awareness training and then they’re good to go, but it’s really important to have that continuous learning, so that we can be allies, and that we can understand those power imbalances between government and community.”  

Policy Frameworks and First Nations Relations is now open for registrations. The program will be delivered through four online modules plus an orientations session, to be held on 17, 24, 31 October and 7,14 November 

This microcredential is part of ANZSOG’s work to build capability within the public sector to allow it to work in more effective partnership with First Nations and to emphasise the importance of using First Nations culture and history in the work of the public sector. This includes our Working with First Nations: Delivering on the Priority Reforms program, our First Nations public policy conferences, and the Wise Practice Collection of strengths based First Nations resources.