top of page
Woor-Dungin Consulting

 

Woor-Dungin offers three consulting approaches:

  • Support to local ACCOs and Aboriginal organisations in governance, management and business development– assisting them to become more effective through focusing on what works and how to do that more often.

 

  • Facilitate philanthropic organisations, government agencies and corporations to examine their cultural competence, policies, funding practices, decision-making structures and relationships with First Nations communities.

 

  • Assist organisations to develop Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP), cultural safety training, community engagement, and strategic policy co-design. It also reviews organisational programs and projects to ascertain

 

Core values: Commitment to self-determination, commitment to community led approaches, strategic thinking and understanding and delivery of trauma informed approaches.

 

Woor-Dungin has a strong track record in identifying and synthesising community-identified issues, building cross-sector coalitions and advocating for systemic reform. Its initial purpose was to assist local Aboriginal community groups and organisations to access philanthropic funds to assist in their essential work.Over the past decades Woor-Dungin has built an enduring set of relationships with local ACCOs across Victoria through its Aboriginal Partnerships Program and cross-sector partnership model.As a result of its successful work with philanthropy, Woor-Dungin developed a Cultural Audit Toolkit which assists trusts and foundations to ‘de-colinise’ their practice.

 

The tool kit is designed for philanthropic organisations to reflect on their approaches to funding Aboriginal organisations. This tool kit is also of relevance to government. not-for-profits and the corporate sector.Woor-Dungin impacted systems change in the Criminal Record Discrimination Project contributing to legislative and institutional reform when it led criminal record advocacy contributing to historical record reform and Victoria's Spent Convictions Scheme.

 

Woor-Dungin staff support philanthropic organisations, government agencies and corporations to examine their cultural competence, policies, funding practices, decision-making structures and relationships with First Nations communities. This includes Woor-Dungin’s Decolonising Philanthropy Cultural Audit and Toolkit, tailored advisory support, facilitated discussions and organisational training.

 

Foundational theories underpinning Consultancy

  • Cultural awareness and cultural safety are underpinned by theories of critical social theory, postcolonial theory, and social constructionism, which analyze how power, history, and societal norms shape human interactions.•Self-determination theory (SDT) is underpinned by the core idea that human motivation, growth, and wellness depend on fulfilling three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

  • Trauma-informed principles are a set of core values and practices designed to create supportive, safe environments that avoid re-traumatizing individuals by shifting the question from "what is wrong with you?" to "what happened to you?"

  • Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a strengths-based organisational development approach. It focuses on what works well within an organisation and builds on the positives already present, rather than focusing on deficit problems. It is an extremely disciplined approach to organisational development. Members of the team are now trained in this approach and bring it to the work it undertakes with other organisations and groups.

  • Assets Based Community Development (ABCD) builds on the assets that are found in the community and mobilizes individuals, associations, and institutions to come together to realise and develop their strengths.

 

The Consulting Team

Shaun Middlebrook

Proud Wiradjuri and Yuin man from New South Wales, Shaun has a history in management, finance and advocacy. Throughout his career he has always maintained a commitment to community. He currently sits as Social and Emotional Wellbeing Manager at the Yoorrook Justice Commission and Strategic Policy, Advocacy and Communications Manager of Aboriginal Housing Victoria.

Pia Cameron

Pia has been teaching alternative community design and eco village development for 10 years and is co-founder of ‘the Gaia Temple’, facilitating workshops at the intersection of spirituality, ecology and activism. She has traveled around the world studying sustainability and alternative governance through Gaia Education and the Global Ecovillage Network. Her passion for First Nations Justice informs all of her work and graduated from Victoria University in Assets Based Community Development with a minor in Aboriginal Community and Yulendj (Knowledge). Pia is a trained Appreciative Inquiry facilitator.

bottom of page