First Nations First

First Nations First is pillar one of the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place.

From 2024, Revive establishes a dedicated First Nations-led Board to:

• invest in, create and produce, First Nations works of scale, with priorities and funding decisions determined by First Nations leaders
• develop a First Nations Creative Workforce Development Strategy
• promote best practice cultural protocols, self-determination and cultural safety training across arts and cultural organisations.

First Nations First recognises and respects the crucial place of First Nations stories at the centre of Australia’s arts and culture.

Since 1973 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have brought a guiding voice on matters relating to First Nations arts and culture and to the broader arts and cultural sector through Creative Australia’s (formerly the Australia Council for the Arts) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board.

We build upon the wonderful legacy of those who have come before us, and invited all First Nations creatives to participate in the First Nations First community engagement and consultation.

First Nations-led Board consultation process

The purpose of this consultation was to seek feedback from First Nations people who work within the arts and culture sector on the establishment of Creative Australia’s new First Nations-led Board, and how it should implement, invest, and deliver on its role and responsibilities.

From November 2023 to March 2024, we invited all First Nations people to share your thoughts and aspirations for your community and sector by completing a survey, making a written submission, contributing to an in-person community forum, or requesting a meeting directly with Creative Australia staff.

Online workshops were held for Mob with disability/ies, blind and low vision community, d/Deaf and hard of hearing community, and also a special workshop session designed for youth.

3. Online workshops

The below online workshops were scheduled specifically for creatives of all abilities and for youth:

4. In-person community forums

These gatherings allowed space and time for open discussion and public feedback, and were held in every state and territory.

Protecting your data

We recognise Indigenous Data Sovereignty and the right of First Nations people to autonomously decide what, how and why First Nations data is collected, accessed and used.

What data will we collect? Through the consultation sessions we will be documenting your feedback, including making notes, recordings and transcripts.

How will we protect and use your data? Data collected in this consultation will be respected; individual and collective interests will be protected.

All data will be:

1. • de-identified and protected
   • analysed by First Nations-led process and consultants
   • contextualised and shared back in a public report
   • stored and destroyed in accordance to relevant legislation.