Cultural Agility - Unpacking Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander history and legal realities
A transformative two-day journey toward cultural understanding and shared growth.
The Cultural Agility program offers a profound opportunity to explore the rich diversity, strengths, and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. This immersive experience takes participants through a thoughtful exploration of Australia’s shared history, current realities, and pathways toward active reconciliation.
Program overview
This program is not your typical cultural awareness training you may have experienced in the past. Over two days, participants engage in meaningful dialogue within traditional yarning circles, experience powerful storytelling through green and blue ribbon narratives, and discover Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being, and doing.
A journey through history and understanding
Through lived experience and storytelling, it delves deeper into the complexities of First Nations people's experiences, explaining the ‘why’ behind current realities. By examining actual government records, it breaks down the impact of legislation from first contact, providing a nuanced understanding of the historical context that shapes today's relationships, biases, and systemic inequalities, ultimately informing more empathetic and effective interactions. The program's approach is firmly grounded in Bidiara/Kara-Kara knowledge-sharing and teaching traditions, offering authentic cultural insights and methodologies.
The learning journey is structured around four key principles:
1. The Story of Me - understanding our own cultural identities.
2. The Story of You - exploring diverse cultural perspectives.
3. The Story of Us - examining our shared histories with depth and honesty.
4. The Story of Growth - building pathways to active reconciliation and collaboration.
The program creates a safe yet robust environment where participants are encouraged to move beyond rhetoric toward genuine understanding and collaboration. Through carefully designed experiences rooted in Bidjara/Kara-Kara ways of knowing, being, and doing, participants develop cultural agility that supports both personal growth and high-performance teamwork.
The essence of our work at the National Native Title Tribunal involves assisting people navigate
the cultural intersection of ancient and modern ways of doing things across Australia. The
Cultural Agility program offered by Regional Economic Solutions, appealed to our exacting
learning objectives and its delivery to Tribunal members and staff in Brisbane, Melbourne and
Perth exceeded our highest expectations. The course engaged the strengths of peer-to-peer learning against the backdrop of historical realities that cast long shadows over the present.
Importantly, the course imparted insights to equip people with the requisite skills to engage with the inter-cultural challenges of a rapidly evolving, increasingly complex world.The course included comprehensive, authoritative source materials delivered in an interactive and sensitive manner. Through expert and authentic facilitation, Regional Economic Solutions created a safe, participative, learning space through the powerful engagement medium of a
traditional ‘yarning circle’. If cultural competency is a critical skill for organisational capability,
then cultural agility is a critical mindset that supports organisational resilience and shapes innovation for a changing world. The Cultural Agility training provided by RES was truly transformative.
Kevin Smith, President, National Native Title Tribunal
Expert facilitation
Led by renowned Indigenous educators including:
- Leann Wilson, a respected Bidjara/KaraKara and South Sea Islander Matriarch and Managing Director, RES.
- Jeremy Marou, a Torres Strait Islander man from Mer (Murray Island), singer and songwriter (Busby Marou) and Training & Community Engagement Advisor, RES.
- Dr Ivan Ingram, a Wiradjuri and Filipino man from Parkes, NSW and First Nations Rights Consultant, RES.
- Phil Thompson, a Bidjara/Kara-Kara and South Sea Islander man and Cultural Advisor, RES.
Participants benefit from authentic cultural knowledge shared with integrity and purpose.
Program details
Duration: Two days (9.30am to 4.30pm each day)
Location: Throughout Queensland
Group size: Limited to ensure meaningful engagement, no more than 25.
Take the journey from personal awareness to collective growth in this transformative program that strengthens relationships across cultures and builds pathways toward reconciliation through the wisdom of Bidjara/Kara-Kara knowledge systems.
