Sharing Success Workshop, Mt Isa, QLD 12 & 13 Sept 2007
Mt Isa Participants
The third and final Sharing Success workshop for 2007 was held in Mt Isa in Queensland in September. The two-day workshop created an Indigenous space to hold conversations about building good governance and developing strong leadership.
The 24 participants represented a broad range of local organisations, with many of them wearing a number of different ‘hats’ for the several groups, businesses or associations they spoke for.
Professor Mick Dodson opened the workshop by reminding participants that every aspect of daily life involves encounters with governance of one sort or another.
‘Good governance is the heart of success,’ he said, ‘it lifts people’s spirits to be involved in a healthy organisation, they can be depend on it and be supported by it’.
Presentations were also made by two previous winners of the Indigenous Governance Awards – Jason Eades from the Koorie Heritage Trust and Rachel Wargent from Wuchopperen Health Service. International guests Stephen Cornell from the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development in the United States, and Neil Sterritt, a Gitxsan leader from British Columbia in Canada, shared their experiences of working with Indigenous leaders in North America, and remarked on the excellent and inspiring work being done by many Indigenous organisations and leaders in Australia.
Facilitated by Gunditjmara woman Jodie Ryan, the workshop included small breakout groups for participants to share and discuss the main leadership challenges and governance priorities they face, and to brainstorm practical ideas and strategies to overcome them.
Participants were provided with a workbook introducing governance concepts, examples of good practices, signs of problems and diagnostic checklists so they could review their own organisation. The content of the workbook was drawn from an analysis of all the IG Award applications, the findings of the Indigenous Community Governance Research Project and feedback and evaluation from the first two workshops. Download a copy of the Workbook (PDF)
Feedback on the workshop was very positive with participants saying it was ‘very relevant and well presented’, that they ‘gained ideas on how to run a good organisation’ and they will ‘use the workbook templates to help us with our reviews’. They also said it is ‘important to see examples of success within other Indigenous organisations’.
Reconciliation Australia and BHP Billiton thank the IG Awards finalists and international guest speakers for sharing their insights and stories of success.
Download the Workshop Report (PDF) including drawings and discussion outcomes.
Visit the Mt Isa photo gallery.