We operate in a complex, uncertain and ever-changing environment. These challenges present opportunities. Understanding our environment allows us to be more strategic and build our capabilities to ensure First Nations peoples are heard, recognised and empowered.
Our regional work and impact
Our regional presence is a key strength, supporting our work across Australia. Our staff work closely with communities in urban, regional and remote locations. Through listening, we’ve developed trusted relationships with local First Nation communities, organisations and other strategic stakeholders. We operate from 49 locations across the country at:
- 37 commercial offices
- 12 remote offices and accommodation locations (also known as Government Engagement Coordinator Complexes and Visiting Officer Quarters).
In addition, we have remote offices and accommodation in 39 remote locations with properties that are used for visiting staff.
Our regional presence is central to our ability to understand the unique needs and priorities of community and provide effective localsolutions. It lets us respond to emerging priorities and support natural disaster preparedness and recovery.
We strive to influence all levels of government and to connect First Nations peoples with opportunities across the public and private sector. By working closely with communities and organisations, we will continue to strengthen our ability to better deliver on their needs and aspirations.
Enhancing our capabilities
We invest in our people, technologies and structures to deliver our priorities and achieve our purpose. A culture of continuous improvement lets us quickly respond to challenges and opportunities, and is a key driver to improve our operational efficiency and effectiveness.
Our People
Our people are supported and enabled to do their best work – both for their own benefit and for ours. Our people are critical to the success of the Agency, and we invest in their development. In the coming year we will launch our People Strategy, to attract, recruit, retain and develop our people.
We are also developing a Diversity and Inclusion Framework to ensure our employees are valued and respected for who they are and their lived experiences. We are committed to leading Boosting First Nations Employment within the Agency through targeted attraction, recruitment and development strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We also require all our staff to continually develop their cultural capability to ensure we are best placed to deliver on our vision through working in partnership with First Nations people and communities.
Integrity
Our role – to enable the self-determination and aspiration of First Nations peoples and communities, is a unique and privileged one. We recognise that integrity is fundamental to building and maintaining genuine partnerships. Trust and confidence in our Agency underpins the success of the policies, programs and services we administer. To this end, we are committed to strengthening our integrity culture in everything we do. Through our values we promote and encourage a ‘speak up’ culture. Over the coming year we will invest in integrity capability, systems and accountability frameworks to ensure our actions and behaviour match our values, and that there is accountability when they do not.
Health, safety and wellbeing
We put the safety and wellbeing of our people first. We do this by improving our safety culture. We use a risk-based approach that is based on evidence as we build the overall safety and wellbeing of our people.
We fulfil our due diligence obligations through effective communication and consultation with our people. Staff are involved in decisions so that their expertise and experiences are valued and incorporated into our safety initiatives. Together, we create a safety culture that promotes staff wellbeing and meets our safety goals.
In the coming year we will strengthen our approach to assessing psychosocial hazards, working alongside the APS Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Unit (the Unit) to promote a mentally healthy workplace.
Our Technology
We are in the final year of the NIAA Information Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy 2020–2023. This work is supported by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
This year, we continue our work on the One Network Project. The One Network Project – launched in July 2022 – is the most ambitious digital transformation initiative the NIAA has embarked on. It is aligned to both the NIAA ICT Strategy and the Australian Government’s Digital Strategy and is on-track to be delivered in early 2024.
Following the implementation of the One Network project, we will finalise the 2024– 2026 ICT Strategy. This strategy will promote investment in developing ICT systems and processes to provide efficiencies and improve the ways we work.
Our Transformation Journey
Galambany is our transformation program. It is updating our focus, role and the ways we work so we can support the government and meet the needs, priorities and aspirations of First Nations peoples and communities.
Galambany is important because we lead and coordinate a whole-of-government approach to supporting First Nations peoples. The changes will help us better deliver outcomes that put First Nations peoples at the centre of policies and services.
Galambany projects are being delivered through 6 work streams that align with our strategic themes:
- Our Policy and Strategy identifies our strategic objectives and defines our role working with communities and across governments.
- Our Investment prioritises and streamlines our effort and investment to deliver better funding outcomes into the future.
- Our Engagement develops the tools for best-practice engagement with communities and organisations.
- Our People builds the capabilities and skills we need to deliver strong outcomes.
- Our Data and Information identifies our data needs to support effective policy and engagement.
- Our Enabling Services delivers improved support services that are tailored to the needs of our staff.
We are building on the NIAA vision, purpose and Agency-wide strategies that set out our policy context and key priorities. Building on this critical foundation work, Galambany will improve the way we work and, over the next 12 months, deliver:
- The NIAA priorities that are directly linked to Closing the Gap targets, supported by clear strategies within the whole-of-government context, and shaped by community needs and priorities.
- Active, meaningful engagement, with community and across government driven by consistent standards and approaches, todeliver better outcomes for First Nations people and communities.
- A roadmap to more innovative and impactful investment guiding investment priorities and decisions.
- Informed decisions based on current, accurate and reliable data, integrated across government and shared with community.
- Staff that are equipped with the knowledge, skills and experience to excel in their roles, enabling better outcomes for community,the Agency and the broader APS.
- An NIAA that operates more effectively, adopting a true ‘one Agency’ approach, supported by effective enabling services and delivering better outcomes across the board.