By Caitlin Leslie, Senior Project Lead
When I was at Minderoo Foundation, I was part of a team that developed the Australian Indigenous Employment Index. It was a landmark piece of research, one of the first comprehensive national snapshots of how First Nations employment was tracking across corporate Australia.
The Index did something important: it held up a mirror. It showed organisations where the gaps were, how far we still have to go, and in some cases, the distance between what we say and what we do.
But while it helped many leaders see the problem more clearly, it didn’t always help them move beyond diagnosis. It didn’t tell them exactly how to transform goodwill into structural change. And sometimes, if I’m honest, it felt like we were celebrating the act of measuring more than the act of doing.
Since then, I’ve had the privilege to work alongside First Nations leaders, entrepreneurs, and organisations who are not waiting for permission to lead differently. They are modelling what strategic, culturally anchored leadership looks like, often without the recognition or resources that others take for granted.
This year’s NAIDOC theme: The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy is personal. It reflects what I see every day in our work at 15 Times Better.
Strength: Quiet resilience in carrying cultural, community, and commercial expectations all at once. Vision: The ability to walk in two worlds and build something better in both. Legacy: A focus on intergenerational change – not just ticking the box for the next reporting cycle.
But there’s a hard truth here, too.
We still expect First Nations leaders to translate, to hold the cultural load, to step into spaces that weren’t built for them, and to do it all with grace and optimism. Meanwhile, the system around them changes at a glacial pace.
I know this post might make some people uncomfortable. I still feel like I’m finding my voice in this space. But what I’ve seen, and what I believe, is that there is no lack of capable, visionary First Nations leadership.
There is a lack of courageous systems to back it.
So, this NAIDOC Week, I’m asking: What would change if we stopped asking First Nations leaders to fit our structures, and started reshaping our structures to fit their leadership?
The answer isn’t more one-off campaigns or performative gestures. It’s this:
- Walk alongside, don’t speak over.
- Fund capability, not just capability statements.
- Share decision-making power, not just photo opportunities.
- Grow leadership pipelines that will outlast your RAP cycle.
If you’re in a position of influence, on a board, leading a RAP, running a business, this is the moment to move past good intentions.
At 15 Times Better, we work with organisations ready to make that shift. Because the next generation is already leading. They don’t need permission, but they do need backing.
What would happen if we built systems that matched their strength, vision, and legacy?
Want to learn more, contact us