Family Violence Prevention, Men's Behaviour Change and Counselling.

Mental Health Assessment and Referral

Case Management: Child and Youth Protection

500 hour supervised Student Placement to finalise Master of Social Work (MSW) qualification through the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in Canberra, ACT. Placement required working within the ACT Government's Community Services Directorate.

I worked on the department's development of national circular economy, waste collection and resource recovery policy, with a special focus upon the construction and demolition (C&D) waste stream, as well as waste priorities within a number of City Deal proposals in close collaboration with the lead Commonwealth agency, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (DITRDC).

For 20 months, I worked in the Ageing and Aged Care Group of the Department of Health, designing and implementing a number of significant national reforms to aged care workforce policy. In this role, I engaged with senior representatives from the national aged care industry, as well as with colleagues from other Australian Government agencies, such as the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, the NHMRC and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.

For 6 months, I worked within a small team to develop a wide range of Australian Government policy reform proposals relevant to the proposed South East Queensland (SEQ) City Deal. This role required negotiation with our deal partners – the Queensland Government and the 10 relevant local government councils. This project also included extensive consultation with Australian Government agency colleagues across a range of portfolio areas such as Communications, CSIRO/Data 61, Employment, Industry and the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), and with a range of external stakeholders such as Telstra, Optus, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) and Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC). In addition, this position included travel to South East Queensland to facilitate and record a number of Ministerial stakeholder forums across this extensive geographic region.

For 6 months, I worked within the Digital Sourcing Centre of Excellence at the Digital Transformation Agency in Canberra. As part of a small team, I developed a suite of policies and supporting guidance materials in relation to whole-of-government ICT procurement strategy and policy development. This included acquiring and applying both Agile and User Research methodologies to achieve strategic and policy outcomes.

For 6 months, I worked within the Indigenous Affairs Group of PM&C on policy, legislative and implementation reforms in relation to the national Community Development Programme (CDP). As part of this role, I received training in and responded to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, as well as providing input into Senate Estimates and Question Time briefings.

For 14 months, I provided wide-ranging social policy advice on behalf of the Policy Office within the Department of Social Services (DSS), Canberra. I co-ordinated whole-of-department briefings and submissions in response to a diverse range of social and economic policy issues across government. I provided strategic secretariat advice and support to the Policy Office in relation to the regular meetings of the Indigenous Policy Forum within the Department. I also co-ordinated responses to whole-of-government cabinet submissions on behalf of the Department on a regular basis. For three months, I was seconded to assist the Department to implement the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.

Over a period of 4 years, I provided wide-ranging policy advice on a number of diverse health issues (e.g. eye, ear, mental health) to the Executive and Board of NACCHO; representation on behalf of NACCHO on various national government and multi-sector committees, conferences and fora.

Social policy & program research, analysis and assessmentCommunity engagement specialistCommunity and organisational facilitationStrategic advice, planning and implementationSocial research

In 2012, I was approached by the Australian Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Education (ACIKE) at Charles Darwin University to deliver two semester-long lecture series on Indigenous Knowledges and their relation to government, non-government and corporate sector policy, governance and engagement.

I worked in the Northern Territory for the Melbourne-based company Socom, which specialises in public and strategic relations. For an extended period, Socom delivered key advice to the Northern Territory Government through conducting major community engagement and communications campaigns. Examples of projects in the Northern Territory in which I have played a key role include: Local Government Reform, the Anti-Social Behaviour Summit in Alice Springs, NT Outstations Policy, Territory 2030 and the Sport and Active Recreation Policy.

I worked closely with the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance (AMSANT) Chief Executive and Board to conduct research and develop strategic policy for the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) sector throughout the Northern Territory. www.amsant.org.au

I was part of a team responsible for implementing the proposed Community Controlled Schools program (previously named "Self Managing Schools") recommended in Learning Lessons: an independent review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory (Collins & Lea, 1999). The program identified four trial sites for implementation: Maningrida, Bathurst Island, Utopia area schools and Warlpiri Schools (Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Willowra and Nyirrpi).The role required advanced strategic policy implementation skills: from program conceptualisation, detailed scoping, planning and management activities through to the successful endorsement and development by the Learning Lessons Implementation Steering Committee, the DEET Executive and the Minister for Employment, Education and Training.Furthermore, this position required the ability to communicate the program effectively to a range of stakeholders in varied contexts: Indigenous communities, educational professionals, academics and members of other Government (Commonwealth and NT) agencies.

Consultant anthropologist to: Kimberley Land CouncilNorthern Land CouncilCentral Land Councilextensive field work and desktop research with Aboriginal landowners in the Tanami Desert, East Kimberley and Victoria River District regions of Northern and Central Australia.

Duties included registering and managing land claims under the Native Title Act, responding to the NTA future act regime, investigating and developing Prescribed Body Corporate (PBC) structures as per the NTA and managing work program clearances in reference to the Heritage Act (WA, 1972). Throughout this work, I was required to conduct preliminary anthropological research to document traditional ownership and decision-making structures in regard to Miriwoong/Miriuwung, Gajirrawoong/Gajerrong, Gija/Kija and Worla(-ja-ngarri) socio-cultural groups in the North-East Kimberley region. This research was needed to register Native Title claims, investigate and develop PBCs, manage work program clearances and also to support commercial negotiations in a Native Title environment (e.g. Ord Stage II). In addition, I was involved in facilitating workshops on land use planning (e.g. KWADS- Kununurra-Wyndham Area Development Strategy) and informing Native Title Holders of large-scale developments in the East Kimberley region such as the proposed Ord Stage II agricultural development. Throughout these latter consultations, I was involved in organising and attending various meetings between representatives of the Native Title party and the Environmental Protection Authority, representatives of the WA and NT governments and various commercial proponents.In this position, I was responsible for engaging and managing consultants, managing budgets and producing project reports for management and for ATSIC.

Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring is an Aboriginal language and culture centre directed by the Mirima Council Aboriginal Corporation of Kununurra. The mission of the centre is to ensure that local Aboriginal languages and cultures are inter-generationally transmitted. On a daily basis over the five years, I was involved in applied linguistic research to progress a range of community projects. With language workers and community members, I organised and prepared weekly Miriwoong school lessons at the centre. Other activities at the centre included the production of language and culture videos, and audio recordings of stories and songs produced for the local Aboriginal radio station, Waringarri Media. The centre also facilitated training for community adults in linguistics and interpreting studies through Batchelor College (now Batchelor Institute), N.T. In 1996, the language centre was contracted to carry out research and community consultations for a national survey on Aboriginal languages funded by ATSIC. With the Chairperson of the Mirima Council, David Newry, I carried out this research brief around Kununurra, Wyndham and across the border into the Northern Territory. Throughout 1997, the language centre was involved in the Miriuwung Gajerrong Native Title Claim. All the staff at the language centre were involved in helping lawyers to proof claimants and to assist anthropologists to gather ethnographic detail for use in evidence. The language centre also provided daily technical language support for the court transcribers when claimants’ evidence was heard.As the Centre Co-ordinator, I liaised with government officers, teachers, anthropologists, linguists and lawyers. I submitted funding applications and ensured that all grants were properly acquitted and accounted for. I managed staff and facilitated meetings between other groups and the Mirima Council, as well as reporting to, and seeking directions from, the Mirima Council.