EP#87: Cultural responsiveness and why it matters with Lisa Conway
Each year during NAIDOC week, everyone in Australia is invited to join in celebrating the rich history, culture, and achievements of First Nations peoples. While more and more Australians recognise the crucial role that First Nations peoples play in caring for the country and making it a place we can all enjoy and love living in, First Nations peoples still face significant adversity in their everyday lives. This adversity can make it more challenging for them to attain higher education or secure senior executive positions.
On this episode of Work with Purpose, we are joined by Lisa Conway, who is national manager, People Division at Services Australia, and a Sir Roland Wilson Pat Turner scholar. A Yorta Yorta woman who overcame great adversity in her life, Lisa shares her personal journey as the child of someone from the stolen generation, highlighting the impact of shame, trauma, and discrimination, and her commitment to making a difference for people. Lisa emphasises the importance of cultural responsiveness, self-reflection, and learning from First Nations communities to create a diverse and inclusive society where everyone feels represented and supported.
Discussed in this episode:
- The Impact of stolen generation and how it affects First Nations peoples today
- Using cultural responsiveness to understand your own culture to better serve people from other cultures
- Importance of diversity in workforce and representation in society
- Overcoming adversity and pursuing leadership roles.
Guests:
Lisa Conway
Ms Conway has worked for the Australian Government for the past 17 years in a variety of roles, including service delivery, social work, community engagement, fraud prevention and human resource policy. She is currently a national manager in the People Division at Services Australia. Lisa has been recognised by her agency for her work in improving communications with First Nations customers and also by the APS more broadly for her research and development of the First Nations cultural responsiveness training for social workers.
Lisa is a current Sir Roland Wilson Foundation Pat Turner PhD Scholar. Lisa’s PhD research focuses on looking for opportunities to apply cultural responsiveness to policy design and implementation to improve policy effectiveness and make it more culturally safe and responsive for First Nations peoples.