August 2026
Cultural Safety Workshop
Everything we worked through on the day, plus the two questions we parked and the leadership activities to finish in your own time.
The four scenarios we worked through in small groups, what the room came up with, and a few further things worth sitting with. Open any scenario to read it again.
Lisa is a non-Indigenous Team Leader at Parks Victoria. She's always tried to foster an inclusive and respectful workplace environment. A crucial member of her team is Dylan, a local Aboriginal man, who is a knowledgeable and skilled ranger. His cultural understanding of the land has greatly benefited the team's work.
Recently, Lisa received a complaint from another team member, John, who is also non-Indigenous. John claimed that Dylan had been disrespectful and uncooperative during a recent project. He felt that Dylan was not pulling his weight and had made several derogatory comments about his work. Lisa trusts John's report but is also aware that there might be cultural nuances or misunderstandings at play that she and John might not fully grasp.
She's uncertain about how to proceed. Parks Victoria has a standard grievance procedure, which involves formal investigation and possible disciplinary action. But Lisa is concerned that implementing this process without considering the cultural aspects might exacerbate the situation and possibly cause Dylan to feel targeted or misunderstood.
At the same time, Lisa also wants to make sure that John's grievance is taken seriously and addressed appropriately. She wants to find a solution that respects Dylan's cultural identity, while also ensuring that John's concerns are validated and addressed.
Steve is a non-Indigenous manager in Parks Victoria. He's led a diverse team of rangers for several years and is committed to creating an inclusive workplace. One of his team members, Mawarra, a Dja Dja Wurrung woman, has been with the team for about a year. She is the only Aboriginal employee in the unit and is highly respected for her knowledge of the landscape and the cultural values connected to Country.
Over the past two months, Steve has noticed that Mawarra has been absent more often than usual. When she is at work, she seems quieter, less engaged and has struggled to meet some project deadlines.
Other members of the team have begun commenting on the situation. One colleague says, "She's away again. It's getting pretty hard for the rest of us." Another remarks, "If there was something going on, surely she'd just tell us." A third suggests that everyone should simply be held to the same standard, regardless of personal circumstances.
Steve privately checks in with Mawarra. She thanks him for asking and says she appreciates his concern but doesn't want to discuss the reasons for what's happening. She confirms she is doing her best and asks for some privacy.
Steve wants to support Mawarra while also ensuring the team can continue to work effectively. He is also concerned that the conversations happening within the team could create an environment where people feel judged rather than supported.
Ben is a Parks Victoria Project Manager overseeing the reopening of a popular walking track following storm damage. The project is progressing well, with funding secured, contractors engaged and a public reopening date announced.
During the project, the appropriate Traditional Owner organisation advises that additional work is required to properly assess potential impacts on cultural heritage and other cultural values before construction can proceed in part of the site. This means the project timeline may need to change.
Back in the office, Ben overhears members of the project team discussing the situation. One colleague says, "Every project seems to get held up because of cultural heritage. We're going to miss another deadline." Another responds, "We've already done all the planning. Surely we've ticked the boxes by now."
An Aboriginal staff member is working nearby and hears the conversation. They become visibly uncomfortable but do not say anything.
Ben recognises that the team is under genuine pressure to deliver the project on time. At the same time, he is concerned that the conversation reflects a misunderstanding of why cultural heritage assessments are undertaken and may create an unsafe workplace for Aboriginal colleagues.
The group identified this as a systemic, organisational and individual issue.
Mia is an Aboriginal ranger working for Parks Victoria on her own Traditional Country and is a Traditional Owner for the Country on which she works. Her role is primarily operational, and she has developed strong relationships with Elders, Community members and the relevant Traditional Owner organisation. She is respected by colleagues for her knowledge and willingness to help.
Over time, Mia has become the person colleagues turn to whenever cultural matters arise. She is regularly asked to review signs and communications, organise a Welcome to Country, answer cultural questions, brief contractors and explain local cultural protocols. While she values these relationships, this work has gradually grown alongside her operational responsibilities without any formal adjustment to her workload.
A visitor infrastructure project begins falling behind schedule. Mia's manager asks whether she could contact an Elder directly to seek quick approval for some interpretive material, believing her relationships may help move the project forward. Mia explains that, although she is a Traditional Owner, she does not personally hold the cultural authority to make this decision on behalf of the broader Traditional Owner group and is uncomfortable bypassing the established engagement and decision-making process.
Later, during a performance discussion, her manager raises concerns about several overdue operational tasks and wonders whether Mia has become less engaged with supporting the team.
One theme appeared repeatedly across the groups' responses: training.
Cultural awareness and cultural capability training have an important role. But training alone can't create cultural safety.
If everybody in these scenarios completed another cultural awareness course tomorrow, what problems would still exist?
The grievance process might still need to be made culturally safe. Mawarra could still experience cultural isolation or judgement. Project systems could still bring Traditional Owners into decision-making too late. Mia's cultural labour could still be unrecognised and unresourced.
So, when responding to issues of cultural safety, keep coming back to each issue at the three levels we were yarning about.
What knowledge, behaviour, attitudes or assumptions need to change?
What do leaders and colleagues need to do differently?
What processes, structures, resources or power arrangements contributed to this situation, and what needs to change to prevent it happening again?
Try to do these within the next week, especially to help inform personal goals in your PDP for the year ahead. All three together can take as little as 30 minutes, but they will embed your thinking for the long term and make it easy to come back to down the line.
Download the worksheet Word document. Type straight into it or print it and write in it. All three activities, with room for your answers, plus the prompting questions at the back.Keep your own copy. The worksheet is yours - nothing is submitted and nobody else sees it.
When thinking about building a leadership plan for creating spaces which are conducive to cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, it can be helpful to consider what leadership means to you. Consider each idea from three angles: you personally, your role, and Parks Victoria.
Building on your leadership plan, turn to the gaps you can already see in yourself. Consider what you know, what you can do, and how you behave in the workplace.
What gaps in my knowledge am I already aware of?
What skills gap am I already aware of?
What gaps in my behaviour am I already aware of?
Reflecting on what you wrote in activities 1 and 2, and thinking about the future, consider your role and identify two actions for each category: what are you currently doing, and what could you be doing?
Team members
Enhance knowledge of Aboriginal cultural heritage and the cultural competence of all Parks Victoria employees by:
People managers
Support Aboriginal employees to access opportunities to connect with and care for Country and culture, and to share and develop cultural and traditional knowledge by:
Helpful questions for figuring out what you could be focusing on next. Read across all four, then mark where most of your attention is needed. These sit at the back of the worksheet as prompts you can come back to.
Two questions were written down on the day - please find answers to both below!
Using the Aboriginal names for places is becoming standard, which is a good thing. Are these all mapped somewhere?
e.g. Melbourne / Naarm
There isn't one definitive national map or database of Aboriginal place names, and it is important to be a little careful about treating them as though there is.
Names such as Naarm are increasingly being used alongside colonial place names, which can be a valuable way of recognising the much older histories, languages and connections to Country that exist in these places.
However, Aboriginal languages and boundaries are complex. Different language groups may have different names for the same or overlapping places, spelling can vary, and some names being used today refer to a broader area rather than being a direct Aboriginal-language equivalent of the English place name.
For that reason, the best source is generally the Traditional Owners of the Country you are talking about, particularly the relevant Traditional Owner organisation or Local Aboriginal Land Council.
There are probably two primary resources that I refer to when we start talking about maps.
These can be a great starting point, but they shouldn't necessarily be treated as the final authority on what a place should be called.
Don't assume that every Australian place has a single Aboriginal name that can simply be substituted for its English name. Where possible, find out whose Country you are on and follow the terminology and language used by those Traditional Owners.
What's the appropriate term to use for a particular Aboriginal community?
Is it ok for non-Aboriginal people to use the term "mob"? "Clan" and "tribe" seem too archaic. Should you ask what term to use?
There isn't one term that works in every situation because terms such as people, community, Nation, language group, clan, Traditional Owners and mob can mean different things and aren't necessarily interchangeable.
Where you know the specific name of the people or Nation, that is generally the most respectful and accurate terminology to use. For example, you might refer to Yorta Yorta people, Dja Dja Wurrung people or Gunditjmara people, rather than trying to categorise them as a "tribe" or "clan".
Yes - it is absolutely okay to ask!
If you're working with a particular community and aren't sure whether to say Nation, people, community, mob, clan or something else, you can simply ask:
"How would you prefer us to refer to your community/people?"
Cultural safety isn't about memorising a universal dictionary of the "correct" terminology. It's about recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are diverse, that communities have the authority to describe themselves, and that respectful curiosity is often better than confidently making an assumption.
Be specific where you can, follow the language people use for themselves, and ask when you're unsure.