PANEL: Carving Our Own Path: Finding Our Culturally Safe Place in Non-Indigenous Workspaces
Tracks
Kookaburra Room: In-Person & Virtual via OnAIR
| Monday, October 20, 2025 |
| 11:25 AM - 12:25 PM |
| Kookaburra Room (M3) |
Overview
Belinda Gibb & Richard Tankersley, Australian Medical Council
Presenter
Ms Belinda Gibb
Director Indigenous Policy And Programs
Australian Medical Council
Carving Our Own Path: Finding Our Culturally Safe Place in Non-Indigenous Workspaces
Presentation Overview
With so many of us working within non-Indigenous organisations, many of us are struggling to navigate what are often culturally unsafe environments and as a result Indigenous employees find themselves bearing the responsibility of safeguarding their own cultural wellbeing, mental wellbeing, and resilience.
This means that, along with our obligation to our communities, we must often do more in our day-to-day jobs than those colleagues whose cultures are part of the core business of these organisations.
This panel discussion seeks to delve into the lived experiences of Indigenous workers in different non-Indigenous workspaces, highlighting the complexities and challenges they face in environments that, while well-intentioned, often fall short in practice.
There are several possible discussion threads in this diverse panel, consisting of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and Māori Peoples:
• Illuminating the disconnect for Indigenous Peoples without organisational cultural safety policies and practices
• Highlighting how we’re able to apply cultural practices within the workplace to enhance Indigenous wellbeing
• Developing collective ways of looking after ourselves and each other in culturally unsafe environments
• Applying Indigenous philosophies and narratives as a way of creating and holding space for Indigenous development
• Normalising the use of Indigenous approaches to wellbeing to promote workplace health and wellbeing.
• How Indigenous ways of working can benefit the organisations as well as the people that work within them
• How to maintain our own cultural identities while working with non-Indigenous systems.
Three Key Learnings:
1. How using our own philosophies and narratives helps us to achieve outcomes, for ourselves and our employers, in non-Indigenous spaces
2. Understanding the benefits of utilising our collective ways of looking after ourselves and each other in culturally unsafe environments
3. How insisting on being ourselves in our workplaces can benefit the work and others we work with.
This means that, along with our obligation to our communities, we must often do more in our day-to-day jobs than those colleagues whose cultures are part of the core business of these organisations.
This panel discussion seeks to delve into the lived experiences of Indigenous workers in different non-Indigenous workspaces, highlighting the complexities and challenges they face in environments that, while well-intentioned, often fall short in practice.
There are several possible discussion threads in this diverse panel, consisting of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and Māori Peoples:
• Illuminating the disconnect for Indigenous Peoples without organisational cultural safety policies and practices
• Highlighting how we’re able to apply cultural practices within the workplace to enhance Indigenous wellbeing
• Developing collective ways of looking after ourselves and each other in culturally unsafe environments
• Applying Indigenous philosophies and narratives as a way of creating and holding space for Indigenous development
• Normalising the use of Indigenous approaches to wellbeing to promote workplace health and wellbeing.
• How Indigenous ways of working can benefit the organisations as well as the people that work within them
• How to maintain our own cultural identities while working with non-Indigenous systems.
Three Key Learnings:
1. How using our own philosophies and narratives helps us to achieve outcomes, for ourselves and our employers, in non-Indigenous spaces
2. Understanding the benefits of utilising our collective ways of looking after ourselves and each other in culturally unsafe environments
3. How insisting on being ourselves in our workplaces can benefit the work and others we work with.
Biography
Belinda is a proud Dharug woman, the traditional Custodians of Sydney, Australia. She has over 25 years’ experience in education, policy and program delivery, in both government and the not for profit sector, with senior management roles in both government agencies, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, such as the Healing Foundation, Community First Development, and as CEO at Australia’s leading Indigenous education provider, the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre (AILC).
She is currently the Director of Indigenous Policy and Programs at the Australian Medical Council (AMC), where she leads an amazing team, with responsibility for delivering training and support to the AMC, their Committees and stakeholders around Cultural Safety and Indigenous Health, and ensuring it is imbedded across all their policy and programs, including within the Accreditation Standards for Medical training at all levels, and the assessment of International Medical Graduates.
Belinda also sits on the Board of the Dharug Strategic Management Group (DSMG), whose purpose is the advancement of culture and wellbeing of the Dharug people, exercising care and stewardship over elements of Dharug Nura (Country), and until recently sat as a Director on the Boards of CRANAplus, the peak professional body for the remote and isolated health workforce and Dharug Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation (DNAC) a community organisation set up to support the Dharug People.
She is an Independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisor for the ACT Government Working with Vulnerable People Committee and is a member of Ahpra Cultural Safety Accreditation and Continuing Professional Development (ACPD) Working Group.
