Partner with us
Some of our most important work happens in partnership
We team with government agencies, research organisations, service providers and community-controlled organisations to deliver work that is both rigorous and culturally safe. When cultural authority and community trust matter, we are the partner who brings them.
Why partner with Karabena
Cultural authority you cannot subcontract
Many briefs, from large evaluations to whole-of-government reforms, depend on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse communities being able to speak openly. That depends on trust, and trust rests on cultural authority.
As a 100 per cent Torres Strait Islander women owned and operated firm, we bring that authority, together with Indigenist methodologies, trusted community networks across every state and territory, and our Say it Safe platform for gathering client experience safely. Partnering with us lets a larger team deliver culturally safe research, evaluation and engagement without asking any one organisation to hold expertise it does not have.
What it looks like
Ways we partner
We are flexible on structure and clear on principle. Depending on the opportunity, a partnership with us can take any of these shapes.
A named partner on a bid
We join a tender or proposal as a named subcontractor or joint partner, strengthening the team and its cultural safety from the outset.
Leading the First Nations and CALD components
We take the parts of a larger program that call for cultural authority and community trust, and deliver them end to end.
Cultural governance and advisory oversight
We provide independent cultural governance, ethics oversight and advisory support to a project or program led by others.
Community-led fieldwork and Say it Safe
We deliver culturally safe, community-led data collection and the Say it Safe platform within a wider research or service design.
Whatever the model, cultural authority and Indigenous Data Sovereignty stay with community, and quality stays with both teams. Where we can, we like to begin on Country, because it grounds a partnership in relationship and place from the outset.
What we look for
How we prefer to work
We do our best work in relationships built on shared values, and we say plainly what matters to us in a partnership.
- Values and ethics alignment. We look for partners who share our commitment to cultural safety, self-determination and Indigenous Data Sovereignty. It is the first thing we look for, because alignment on values is what makes the work both possible and good.
- Enduring, multiyear relationships. Culturally safe work depends on trust, and trust is built over time. We prefer multiyear engagements and lasting relationships to one-off transactions, because they let community authority, evidence and impact compound.
- Community authority at the centre. Whatever the structure, cultural authority and Indigenous Data Sovereignty stay with community, and our recommendations answer to the people affected.
Partnering with us adds measurable social value. As a 100 per cent Torres Strait Islander women owned and operated enterprise, our involvement contributes directly to Indigenous procurement and social procurement objectives. Supply Nation research finds that every dollar of revenue generated by an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander business creates $3.66 of economic and social value for First Nations owners, households and employees (Supply Nation, The Sleeping Giant Rises, 2025).
Let us talk about teaming
Tell us about the opportunity, and we will help shape the right arrangement.
Start a conversationKarabena Consulting Trust · Partner with us.