Kimberley Aboriginal people have a long history of advocating for greater autonomy and self-determination. In the development of the Empowered Communities: Empowered Peoples Design Report, they collaborated with seven Aboriginal regions and their leadership from around Australia. This approach is unique and a first in the Indigenous policy arena. Empowered Communities is an original and wide-ranging approach, built on a policy model of Empowerment, Development and Productivity. It seeks to establish a roadmap to facilitate a fundamental overhaul of Indigenous Affairs policy and development; “All the programs in the world, and all the will, are failing to address the spiral of Indigenous disadvantage. Indigenous leaders of reform realise that nothing short of a radical paradigm shift in Australian Indigenous affairs policy will bridge the wide gap in opportunity between black and white Australians.”
Marty will lead the audience through a contentious and challenging contemporary approach, designed by Aboriginal people, that seeks to dismantle current forces and mindsets buttressing existing Indigenous affairs policy
