Everyone in the built environment is talking about Connecting with Country. Fewer people are asking who should be leading the Aboriginal engagement that makes it possible.
Aboriginal engagement is frequently absorbed into design services or commissioned as an isolated activity, as if building relationships with Elders is something anyone can pick up along the way.
Healthcare worked this out a long time ago. Aboriginal Health Workers provide a specialist interface between Aboriginal communities and health services, and the health system is better for it.
The built environment already understands the value of specialist disciplines working together. An architect does not become a structural engineer because they understand engineering principles. Engineers bring distinct technical expertise, remain accountable for their work and collaborate with architects throughout the design process. Aboriginal engagement deserves the same professional recognition.
Aboriginal engagement specialists provide the interface between Traditional Owners, project proponents and multidisciplinary teams. Embedded in the design process, they lead the engagement, keep track of what Traditional Owners have asked for, and check that it’s still there as the design changes. They also help architects, planners and engineers understand how their own work can support it.
When the entire Connecting with Country scope, including engagement and design, is outsourced as a separate package, it often sits outside the team making the decisions that shape the project. Cultural direction can be lost in translation, and the core design team is never accountable for it.
The consequences can be permanent. Cultural knowledge can be misinterpreted in design, Elders can be asked to endorse outcomes they had no hand in shaping, and decisions can move forward without anyone checking whether Traditional Owner aspirations have been honoured. An engagement specialist is the person checking, from the first conversation to the final design.
When engagement sits inside the team, designers are in the room. They hear it first-hand, understand what’s being asked of them, and get better at their own part of the work. And there’s a clear line from what Traditional Owners said, to the design decisions it shaped, to what gets built.
Cultural authority remains with Traditional Owners, Elders and Custodians. Leadership of engagement belongs with Aboriginal engagement specialists, whose professional expertise extends beyond identity alone.
I’ve been asked to pull Traditional Owner wisdom out of Cultural Heritage Management Plans so it could be used for design, without any engagement at all. That’s what happens when no one on the project holds the community interface as their job. The relationship becomes a task, and wisdom becomes content.
Across health, justice, heritage and education, the rule is the same: Aboriginal people lead the Aboriginal community interface, and other professionals work alongside them. The built environment can keep reinventing the wheel, or it can build the profession that’s been missing.
Not sure where to start?
Looking for specialist Aboriginal engagement expertise for your next project? Get in touch with Indigenuity Lab.
You can also find verified Aboriginal businesses through your local Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce: Kinaway in Victoria and the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce (NSWICC) in New South Wales.
Kinaway members must be at least 51% Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander owned, managed and controlled. Engaging verified Aboriginal businesses can help meet social procurement targets on projects of every size, while keeping benefits flowing to Aboriginal businesses and communities.
Verification is an important safeguard against black cladding. Check both Aboriginal ownership and the specialist expertise your project actually needs.