Reconciliation Australia CEO, Leah Armstrong, said the toolkit builds on the pioneering research of the Indigenous Community Governance Project and provides inspirational success stories from the Indigenous Governance Awards.

“The toolkit has been developed as part of Reconciliation Australia’s partnership with BHP Billiton and with support from the new Australian Indigenous Governance Institute,” said Ms Armstrong.

“It is a comprehensive stockpile of information, tools, templates and audio-visual resources that will be very useful to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities determined to improve their governance and take greater control of their affairs.

“Supporting and rewarding excellence in Indigenous governance is core business for Reconciliation Australia because experience teaches us that strong governance and the empowerment of our communities are a prerequisite for success and an essential foundation of reconciliation.”

Ms Armstrong said the up-dated user-friendly toolkit can be used in many different ways and customised depending on local circumstances and needs.

“I am very confident that it will become an invaluable resource to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people determined to exercise control and responsibility over their own future,” she concluded.

The toolkit can be used to:

• answer quick questions;
• check out the governance innovations of other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups;
• dig deeper into a specific issue, create tailor-made training sessions;
• do a quick governance health-check-up;
• start writing a governance policy manual; or
• work out a long-term governance development plan.

The Indigenous Governance Toolkit can be viewed here.

More information about Reconciliation Australia’s Indigenous Governance project and Awards can be found here.