The Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation Board recently travelled to Melbourne to attend the 2019 ANZSOG conference Reimagining Public Administration: First Peoples, governance and new paradigms.

The conference attracted more than 400 delegates from around Australia and New Zealand.

The keynote speaker was Adam Goodes. Adam was named Australia in of the Year in 2014, in recognition of his community work and advocacy in the fight against racism, empowering the next generation of Indigenous Australians.

The conference themes were reimagining leadership, relationships, service systems and knowledge systems.

CEO Ingrid Stonhill said the conference was an excellent opportunity for BAC Board Members to gain perspective and understand that there are many other first peoples out there trying to achieve remarkable things.

“It’s easy for board members to get overwhelmed by decision-making and not necessarily understand the importance of the overarching governance structure and how important it is to demonstrate consultative, transparent local decision-making processes,” Ms Stonhill said.

“It was a rare opportunity for them to meet others from similar situations and backgrounds and hear new perspectives.”