On breaking down barriers and creating more inclusive economies

I grew up in Mackay in North Queensland, where I come from a very large Torres Strait Islander family. My earliest experiences of giving came from watching my family help set up social welfare services to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community wellbeing. We were very much involved in the establishment of a few local community advancement organisations and so giving was not just financial, but about supporting our community with time and influence.

Growing up in this family environment where we helped people who were less advantaged meant that I was very aware of my privilege. I’m driven by the opportunity that I have to play a significant role in breaking down barriers of disadvantage and creating community wellbeing and investment. 

One of the key drivers throughout my career has been overcoming the barriers and the challenges for economic self-determination for First Nations communities. When you've been locked out of the economy and unable to generate intergenerational wealth, there’s no asset to leverage if one of your kids wants to start a business.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities haven't had the opportunity to create that intergenerational wealth. We’re disadvantaged by a system that measures how much you can borrow against the assets you have. And although we have a stronger focus on impact investing, it’s still framed by the highest rate of return rather than what’s the greatest impact from investment dollars.

We have a long way to go in terms of reshaping the current impact investing market. We need to change the perspective so that it’s less about market rates return and more about greater impact returns and capital preservation to support development. We need to take a longer-term development process and understand that there’s a real opportunity, especially in philanthropy, for people to create a portfolio model around their endowment, which gives high market rates of return to mission aligned investment. It's about taking a much broader view and finding ways to go beyond the old model of grant-making.

My giving is quite broad. I’ve been involved in the reconciliation movement since the early nineties, starting here in Newcastle and then later becoming the CEO for Reconciliation Australia. Throughout my career there’s been this dual theme of creating opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities, while simultaneously building awareness and support from the non-indigenous community to enable a reconciled Australia.

I have given through knowledge-sharing experiences with non-indigenous communities about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues. By actively supporting those communities set up businesses and enterprises to enable economic independence, it creates more opportunities for their families. And sometimes, if I’m advising an organisation, I’ll ask them to donate my fees to a community charity that I nominate.

But personally, I also have an obligation to contribute back and establish that sense of responsibility and giving within my own family. I started by talking with the children about who we want to donate to and what we want to give. I think it’s important to establish a family obligation around giving. If we have the opportunity, position, power and privilege to make our communities and societies better, then we have a responsibility to do so.

That the solutions to these issues can be found in the communities and organisations themselves. My biggest lesson is recognising the power that exists within communities and shifting the power imbalance from those who have the money versus those who have the solutions, into collaboration. It’s not about coming into the relationship thinking that you've got the answers because you have the money. It's a rebalancing of that dynamic and recognising that in the case of First Nations, the community is always the best place to address the issues.

Funders generally come in because of their own lived experience without recognising that the lived experience of Aboriginal Torres Strait communities is different. We need to be open to unrestricted finance, particularly in philanthropy, so you're not reporting against every line item to achieve the outcomes. If we want to create the innovative solutions which communities have, we need to support them with faith and unrestricted finance.

I take these same lessons into the way we need to shift the financial system. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been locked out of the finance economy for so long, and the way capital flows through that system is not meeting the needs of our communities. Because when you don't have assets, you're locked out from the start. We need to think beyond philanthropy to the way our financial system continues to exclude Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.

My ambition is that more philanthropists and foundations, who are confident in their giving, become strong advocates for Aboriginal Torres Strait communities and encourage their peers to do the same. There's opportunity to have greater convening and more engagement around Indigenous philanthropy because it’s still quite new and not really understood. We also need to raise more awareness in the communities around what philanthropy is and how it can support their initiatives. At the same time, we must continue to increase their capability to keep building the ecosystem.