Buwindyala: Strengthening Identity, Responsibility and Wellbeing through Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Tracks
Ballroom 1 - In-Person Only
| Tuesday, October 13, 2026 |
| 10:40 AM - 11:10 AM |
| Ballroom 1 |
Overview
Raymond Timbery, Gadhungal Marring Pty Ltd
Three Key Learnings
1. How strengthening identity, belonging, and cultural connection can prevent distress and improve long-term wellbeing outcomes.
2. How Indigenous knowledge systems can be applied through a structured model to create measurable shifts in confidence, behavior, and purpose.
3. How healing from the inside out creates lasting change that flows into families, communities, and pathways such as employment, education.
Presenter
Mr Raymond Timbery
Ceo
Gadhungal Marring Pty Ltd
Buwindyala: Strengthening Identity, Responsibility and Wellbeing through Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Presentation Overview
Buwindyala is a culturally grounded framework that supports healing, identity, and wellbeing by working from the inside out. Developed through lived experience and grounded in intergenerational knowledge, it responds to the growing disconnection, low self-worth, and identity challenges experienced by many people today.
Rather than focusing on intervention after crisis, Buwindyala centres Indigenous knowledge systems as a form of primary prevention. It supports participants to reconnect to who they are, where they come from, and what their role and responsibility is within community and the world around them. Through this process, identity becomes the foundation for wellbeing.
This approach is delivered nationally across pre-employment programs, as well as schools and community settings. It follows a structured progression of psychological shifts that guide participants from connection and awareness through to responsibility and leadership. These shifts are applied consistently across all programs, creating a clear and transferable model of change.
Buwindyala has demonstrated measurable outcomes, including increased cultural knowledge, confidence, self-worth and belonging, improved mental and emotional wellbeing, and stronger motivation into employment and study.
Buwindyala demonstrates that culture is not an add-on to wellbeing—it is the foundation. When people are grounded in identity and responsibility, we begin to see lasting change that flows from the individual into families, communities, and systems.
This presentation will share how Buwindyala is applied in practice, and how Indigenous-led approaches can prevent distress before it occurs by strengthening identity, purpose, and belonging.
Rather than focusing on intervention after crisis, Buwindyala centres Indigenous knowledge systems as a form of primary prevention. It supports participants to reconnect to who they are, where they come from, and what their role and responsibility is within community and the world around them. Through this process, identity becomes the foundation for wellbeing.
This approach is delivered nationally across pre-employment programs, as well as schools and community settings. It follows a structured progression of psychological shifts that guide participants from connection and awareness through to responsibility and leadership. These shifts are applied consistently across all programs, creating a clear and transferable model of change.
Buwindyala has demonstrated measurable outcomes, including increased cultural knowledge, confidence, self-worth and belonging, improved mental and emotional wellbeing, and stronger motivation into employment and study.
Buwindyala demonstrates that culture is not an add-on to wellbeing—it is the foundation. When people are grounded in identity and responsibility, we begin to see lasting change that flows from the individual into families, communities, and systems.
This presentation will share how Buwindyala is applied in practice, and how Indigenous-led approaches can prevent distress before it occurs by strengthening identity, purpose, and belonging.
Biography
I am a Bidjigal man and Founder of Gadhungal Marring, an Indigenous-led organisation grounded in generations of cultural custodianship, delivering cultural education, language revitalisation, and on-Country learning programs across NSW. My work is shaped by the teachings of my grandfather, Uncle Laddie Timbery, and my cultural mentor Uncle Paul Gordon, whose knowledge I carry forward with responsibility. At the heart of this work is Buwindyala, a cultural framework that supports inner awakening, identity, and self-determination. Through this approach, I have worked with thousands of participants across schools, government, and community to strengthen cultural connection, wellbeing, and future pathways.
