In 2007 and 2009 Reconciliation Australia has continued to work in partnership with BHP Billiton to showcase Indigenous governance success. To maximise the benefits and lessons of the Indigenous Governance Awards they will now be held biennially (2008 and 2010) and the interim years (2007 and 2009) will be used to share and communicate what's been learned through a series of governance development workshops.

Drawing on the knowledge gained in previous years, the workshops disseminated ideas and learnings in a practical context, as well as spreading the conversation about the benefits of good governance to other Indigenous organisations. The workshops were held in regional areas around Australia and benefited established and emerging local organisations. The purpose of the workshops was for participants to:

• Identify some of their governance gaps/issues
• Share stories with finalists from the IG Awards about what has worked for them, and how they got started on building their governance
• Discuss practical ideas to address governance challenges in order to build stronger organisations
• Strengthen their local networks with other organisations in their regions to support each other's governance initiatives
• Start thinking about ways to plan and implement strategies for building and developing leadership in their own organisations
• The workshops will focus on building governance for organisational excellence and how to achieve good governance through strong leadership.

The workshops are conducted by Jodie Sizer and draw on the experience and expertise of finalists and judges from the IG Awards. The program content is based on an analysis of all the IG Award applications and issues identified in them, as well as the findings from the Indigenous Community Governance Research Project.

2009

In September, October and November 2009 Reconciliation Australia is again holding sharing success workshops in Mount Isa and Kalgoorlie.

• Mt Isa, QLD 30-September & 1 October 2009
• Kalgoolrie, WA 25-26 November 2009
• Port Augusta, SA 10-11 March 2010

If you are an organization based in the Port Augusta region and interested in attending, please contact Davina on davina.thomas@reconciliation.org.au