Be a Transformer: ANZSOG Announces First Nations Public Administration Conference for 2025

ANZSOG will again bring together public servants, academics and First Nations and Māori community representatives in our 5th First Nations Public Administration Conference from November 26-28, 2025 in Meanjin/Brisbane. 

Working successfully with First Nations communities requires transformative change across governments. Agencies need to change how they work with communities and each other and define new goals and values. 

The theme of the conference: Leave a Legacy – Be a Transformer reflects the importance of Priority Three of Australia’s National Agreement on Closing the Gap – Transforming Government Organisations – and the limited progress made on this goal so far.

Under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, all Australian governments have committed to four Priority Reforms. Delivering on these Priority Reforms requires a reset in how governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

A February 2024 Australian Productivity Commission (APC) review highlighted that governments are struggling. The promised transformation is ‘slow, uncoordinated and piecemeal’ – and governments have failed to fully grasp the nature and scale of the change required. This has resulted in continued inequality, frustration among First Nations communities, and missed opportunities for collaborative progress. 

The conference will share new ideas and approaches, encourage attendees to question their own attitudes and practices, and ask themselves hard questions about how they work, as well as provide practical tools for doing things more effectively. 

In Aotearoa New Zealand, many transformative changes have been achieved over the last 50 years, as Treaty Settlements have given Māori economic independence, and empowered communities to shape policy and the way they work with government.  

The New Zealand government elected in 2023 is, however, changing its approach to Māori Crown Relations and how government agencies will work with Māori in the future. This includes reviewing the role and purpose of the Treaty of Waitangi Principles in legislation. While there are challenges in this new direction, there are also opportunities for devolution and local decision-making on a scale never seen before. 

Since 2017, ANZSOG’s First Nations conferences have provided a valuable opportunity for people working in First Nations public administration to connect, share stories and ideas, and build networks across jurisdictions in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.  

ANZSOG’s First Nations Senior Advisors, Sharon Nelson Kelly and Jarrod West said that they were excited that ANZSOG would be returning to Meanjin/Brisbane after the success of the First Peoples to All Peoples Conference in 2023. 

“Like our previous First Nations conferences, this will be an occasion which brings together hundreds of public servants, community organisation representatives and academics to learn from, and be inspired by different approaches and perspectives,” Ms Nelson Kelly said. 

“We want to show people how they can be agents of change within their organisations and leave a legacy of policy and actions that meet the needs of First Nations people and communities.” 

Mr West said conference panel discussions will feature a wide range of First Nations and Māori speakers, who will help delegates understand the structural and cultural barriers that stop them closing the gap between good intentions and reality. 

“Why is it that despite strong policy statements, targets and increased resources, change is hard to make, and governments seem stuck in business as usual?” Mr West said.  

“To really answer this question, public servants will need to honestly examine how their organisations operate, their cultural blind spots, their attitudes and values, and how they relate to First Nations people and communities on the ground. 

“This conference will provide an opportunity to seek the perspectives they need to answer those tough questions along with giving them the confidence to work differently.” 

Conference delegates will hear firsthand from agencies, Māori, and First Nations people already on a transformation journey. They will learn why it is necessary, what structures are required, what attitudes are essential and how to manage challenges holding them back. Government organisations that have begun their own transformation, will share stories of what sparked change and what has kept the flame of transformation burning. 

Public servants will build their understanding of the need to move beyond the siloed structures and command-and-control mentality of traditional public services, and create authentic, relationship-based partnerships with First Nations and Māori communities. In the long-term, these relationships must build capability and understanding on both sides, so that public administration and effective services can be designed and delivered in true partnership. 

Ms Nelson Kelly said the conference will provide inspiration but also suggest practical tools to help public servants achieve the changes that they and their organisations want. 

“We ask public servants: what will be your legacy that will enable future generations of First Nations communities, and Māori, to flourish and achieve their life goals?” 

The full program for the conference is in development, and ‘early bird’ registrations will open in March 2025. If you want to get the latest updates on the Conference, please subscribe to our First Nations e-news. 

For more information on ANZSOG’s previous First Nations Conferences, resources are available here on our website. These include the ANZSOG Explainer ‘The National Agreement on Closing the Gap and what it means for public servants’ which outlines how public servants at all levels need to change how they work, to meet the goals of the Agreement.