The virality of COVID-19 poses a serious threat to all Australians. In this episode, we find out how Australia’s First Nations people acted to protect their communities.
In this episode, we speak with the leaders of the National Indigenous Australians Agency to explore the decisions, partnerships and networks that were deployed to keep the people in and the virus out of our most remote communities.
Ray Griggs was appointed the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the National Indigenous Australians Agency when it was stood up as an Executive Agency on 1 July last year having earlier serviced as Associate Secretary in the Indigenous Affairs group in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. His entire career has been dedicated to the best interests of the Australian people, a commitment that continues today.
Letitia Hope is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the NIAA and a proud Bundjalung Torres Strait Islander and South Pacific Islander women. The Bundjalung people are from the Northern Rivers of N.S.W. As Deputy CEO, Letitia is responsible to ensure that the NIAA is a trusted and reliable partner contributing positively to the lives of all Indigenous Australians.
For the past 26 years, Letitia has served in a range of positions across both Commonwealth and State governments in both mainstream and specialised social policy development, service delivery and more recently in health.
Discussed in this episode:
- The unique value proposition Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people bring to the APS
- Creating the space to have conversations about values and behaviours
- Keeping COVID-19 out of remote Aboriginal communities
- The importance of food security
- Reinforcing the value of NIAA’s regional teams
- How to get involved in the reconciliation journey.