While there are many ways of building strong relationships with First Nations communities, the collaborative development of this micro-credential training toolkit aims to support the cultural capability of organisations, whether at policy, project planning and/or leadership levels. The “First Nations Community Engagement Toolkit”, is a micro-credential training package to support successful engagement with First Nations communities, leaders and organisations. The micro-credential is self-paced and can be used to support professional development for individuals or organisations.
Developed through collaborative, iterative, research activities with Indigenous leaders, industry partners, and academic researchers, and incorporating international standards for community engagement and public participation, the Toolkit presents the First Nations Community Engagement Scale. The Scale supports organisations to identify different levels of community engagement leading to self-determination.
The course presents background information to support understanding Australian First Nations’ history and culture, building trusting relationships, and implementing clear steps to achieve mutually agreed outcomes. The Toolkit then provides an engagement matrix to help organisations define and measure their levels of community engagement. The matrix assists practitioners to consider their goals for engagement, their commitment level, impacts to the community and opportunities for community involvement in decision-making relevant to their local contexts and community needs. Finally, the Toolkit provides a non-exhaustive list of engagement methods to support organisations to deliver on self-determination goals. This measurement process gives understanding of the depth of engagement to better recognize and deliver on the principles of self-determination.