Aboriginal people have been making decisions about their culture, communities, country, and economies for millennia. Australian state-imposed corporation models for service delivery and political representation promote a reactive state-dependent governance approach. This contrasts with a self-government approach that delivers a proactive, deliberate community development program which is specifically designed to empower the socio-cultural-economic success of Indigenous Nations. As Indigenous Nations move towards negotiating treaties, agreements, and other constructive arrangements with Australian Governments, they will need to develop self-determining, self-governing processes that represent and are accountable to the Indigenous Nation itself. Janine’s presentation will discuss the deliberate programs sovereignty, self-determination, and nationhood that she has proposed for the Gugu Badhun Nation and will discuss some operational strategies and methods that Indigenous Nations may need to undertake in transitioning to self-determining, self-governing polities that represent the cultural, social, economic & political aspirations of the Nations.