A national scoping of First Nations women’s health for Jean Hailes, framed through the cultural determinants of health and a capabilities approach across the life course.
Current project
Community consultations for the evaluation of Balit Murrup, Victoria’s Aboriginal social and emotional wellbeing framework, yarning with communities and the wellbeing workforce about what the next stage should hold.
Current project
A First Peoples-led evaluation of Aboriginal Best Start across six Victorian sites, delivered with Karen Milward Consulting Services and built on the knowledge of the people who lead and deliver the program.
Current project
A cultural review of the death benefit claims journey for a superannuation fund, with a new learning resource for staff, so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are met with dignity during Sorry Business.
Current project
The ACT’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety feedback mechanism, co-designed and piloted with community and supported by a digital app, so that feedback leads to real change in practice.
Current project
A review with Social Ventures Australia and Sedo Group of the economic development outcomes for First Nations people from the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority’s work, centring Aboriginal business leaders and enterprise networks.
Current project
Professor Kerry Arabena facilitated a pilot Aboriginal cultural safety session for boards, executives and operational staff in Victoria’s social and community housing sector, developed by Karabena Consulting with CHIA Vic.
October 2026
Karabena Consulting facilitated a bespoke cultural learning session for the Board and executive of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, taking a highly experienced governance audience beyond foundational training to Treaty, economic empowerment and what world-class governance means in a First Nations context.
June 2026
Professor Kerry Arabena facilitated two days of strategic planning for the Annamila First Nations Foundation, gathering its majority First Nations Board and leadership on Bunurong Country to shape how the Foundation contributes, convenes and influences.
May 2026
Professor Kerry Arabena led a panel and joined the closing plenary at the Australian Homelessness Conference in Darwin, hosted by AHURI, on prevention across the whole of life and on placing people with lived experience at the centre of decisions that affect them.
October 2026
Professor Kerry Arabena facilitated a gathering hosted by VACCHO with the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity and Safer Care Victoria, designing how an Aboriginal Advisory Group could guide the Council’s work.
September 2026
Professor Kerry Arabena was Master of Ceremonies for the OCHRe Convocation 2026 in Naarm, holding two days of Indigenous research, cultural safety and knowledge framework discussions under the theme Empowering Voices and Deadly Futures.
October 2026
Professor Kerry Arabena was Master of Ceremonies for the Water is Life Traditional Owner Oversight Forum on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, a two-day statewide gathering overseeing Victoria’s Traditional Owner Access to Water Roadmap.
September 2026
Karabena Consulting (Karabena) was engaged by Western Health (WH) in June 2025 to review the impact of the Western Health Aboriginal Health Cultural Safety Plan 2022-2025 and develop recommendations for the development of an updated 2026-2030 Cultural Safety Plan.
June 2025 – June 2026
Karabena Consulting was engaged by Public Skills Australia (PSA) to manage and deliver the First Nations Workforce Participation Research. The project examined First Nations employment, qualifications and workforce pathways across PSA's six industry-sectors: Fire and Emergency Services, Police, Defence, Correctional Services, Local Government, and Federal and State/Territory Government, collectively referred to as the Public Safety and Government industry-sectors.
April 2026 – June 2026
Karabena Consulting worked with Vicsport to support Victorian sport organisations receiving Sport and Recreation Victoria funding to strengthen their First Nations commitments. By 2027, medium and large sports were expected to have a Reconciliation Action Plan, while smaller sports were expected to have a First Nations Policy or commitment statement.
July 2025 – June 2027
Karabena Consulting and First 1000 Days Australia worked with Danila Dilba Health Service (DDHS) to develop Growing Future Elders: Child and Family Model of Care. The model guides the redesign of child and family services across DDHS and brings existing services into a clearer life-course pathway.
February 2026 – May 2026
Karabena Consulting was engaged by the Victorian Department of Education to develop an interim Koorie Communications and Engagement Strategy. Families of Koorie children make decisions about early childhood education within the realities of culture, kinship, work, transport, health, service access and trust, and the Department needed a stronger evidence base for how its communication about kindergarten participation, reforms and early childhood workforce pathways is heard, carried, trusted or lost before it reaches families.
November 2025 – May 2026
Having a Driver Licence is a critical enabler of social and economic participation, particularly for young people in areas with limited alternative transport options such as outer metropolitan, regional, rural, and remote locations. First Peoples youth, however, often experience barriers to obtaining their Learner Permit, including a lack of culturally appropriate learning resources, limited access to technology required to engage with resources, and difficulty accessing local support services.
November 2025 – April 2026
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) commissioned this Indigenist review to deepen understanding of the experiences of Aboriginal doctors within Emergency Medicine (EM) training and practice. Initiated by an Aboriginal ACEM Fellow in response to sustained cultural and colonial load, and supported by ACEM through its Indigenous Health Strategy, Reconciliation Action Plan, and Specialist Training Program Support Project, the review provides an evidence base for strengthening Aboriginal participation, retention, and leadership within the EM Fellowship pathway.
October 2024 - December 2025
The Pupangarli Marnmarnepu: Owning Our Future – Aboriginal Self-Determination Reform Strategy 2020–2025 represents a bold step by DEECA toward embedding Aboriginal self-determination as a foundation for public administration. The Strategy builds on a history of strong partnership with Traditional Owners and seeks to transform the way DEECA works with, and for, First Peoples. Developed through engagement with Traditional Owners and Aboriginal Victorians, the Strategy responds to two key calls: for the government to remove barriers to self-determination, and to work in genuine partnership by transferring power and increasing accountability to Traditional Owners and Aboriginal communities.
May 2025 - December 2025
RACGP, Australia’s largest general practice organisation, and National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation(NACCHO), the peak body for 145 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, work to support high-quality, culturally safe primary healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Since 2014, they have partnered under a formal Memorandum of Understanding, guided by a co-designed Ways of Working Framework, to strengthen preventive care, clinical practice, and culturally safe service delivery.
September 2025 - December 2025
The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) is committed to improving health outcomes for Indigenous peoples across its trans-Tasman jurisdiction, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia and Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. This includes ensuring cultural safety in the training experience and in accreditation processes.
September 2025 - December 2025
Karabena Consulting was commissioned by the VDWC to strengthen the relationship between the Commission and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community by embedding cultural safety and promoting inclusivity in its operations and service delivery.
November 2024 - October 2025
This project sat within the broader context of the Victorian Government’s Best Start, Best Life (BSBL) reforms, which aim to improve early learning outcomes and expand access to quality early childhood education. A critical pillar of these reforms is the workforce, ensuring that the sector attracts, supports, and retains early childhood teachers and educators who reflect the diversity of the communities they serve
May 2025 - October 2025
Karabena Consulting was engaged by Australian Unity to deliver the second phase of the Living Libraries cultural immersion program.
The project aimed to strengthen reconciliation commitments within Australian Unity by providing non-Indigenous staff with opportunities to engage directly with Aboriginal leaders and community organisations.
July – September 2025
This project evaluated the Keeping Families Healthy Together model, an Aboriginal women-led model of care operating in the Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network (BHFLHN), with a focus on the Gawler region in South Australia. The model places Aboriginal matriarchal leadership, cultural governance, child centred practice and relational accountability at the centre of health and child protection service delivery.
January 2025 - August 2025
The Digital Cancer Navigation Service is a national initiative led by Cancer Council Australia to improve access to high quality and culturally safe cancer information and support for all people affected by cancer, with a focus on priority populations.
Karabena Consulting was engaged by Cancer Council Australia to lead the First Nations component of the project, supporting the design and delivery of the service to ensure that the design and delivery of the service meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through culturally appropriate and community-informed approaches. This included work to enhance the cultural responsiveness of Cancer Council’s 13 11 20 Cancer Information and Support Line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
November 2024 - June 2025
Karabena Consulting was engaged to evaluate the co-design process underpinning South Australia’s Child and Maternal Continuity of Care Protocols (CCP) Program. The project aimed to strengthen how Aboriginal voices inform the design of culturally safe, coordinated care for Aboriginal children aged 0–4 years and mothers of Aboriginal babies.
July 2024 - June 2025
Koori Maternity Services are a vital part of Victoria’s maternity system, providing culturally safe, holistic, and community-based care for Aboriginal women, non-Aboriginal women having Aboriginal babies, and their families. Delivered across 14 sites (11 through Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) and three through public hospitals), KMS offers care that goes beyond clinical support.
February 2025 - June 2025