I’m not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
I’m an HR consultant with deep knowledge of Australian employment law, following it, and people management.
When Aboriginal-led businesses approach me for HR support, I’m acutely aware of the power dynamics, cultural sensitivities, and the long history of non-Indigenous “experts” imposing Western frameworks on Indigenous organisations without understanding or respecting cultural context.
So how do I provide valuable HR support without being another non-Indigenous person telling Indigenous organisations “how things should be done”?
With humility. With respect. And with a willingness to learn.
Let me share how this works in practice.
The Situation: Indigenous-Led Businesses Need HR Support
I’ve been engaged by Aboriginal-led businesses in different sectors – architectural design firms, not-for-profit community organisations, and others.
They needed the following:
- Support following Australian employment
- Compliant HR systems.
- Support to navigate Fair Work requirements, contracts, performance management, and all the usual people management challenges any business faces.
But they also had specific cultural considerations I wasn’t familiar with:
- Cultural protocols I needed to respect
- Community-focused values that might differ from typical corporate approaches
- Potential sensitivities around power dynamics (non-Indigenous consultant working with Indigenous-led organisations)
- Ways of working that might not align with standard Western HR frameworks
I knew I had expertise they needed. But I also knew I was an outsider who didn’t understand their cultural context.
The Challenge: Providing Value Without Imposing
Here’s the tension I had to navigate:
On one hand: Employment law is employment law. Fair Work requirements apply to all Australian businesses, including Aboriginal-led organisations. Compliance isn’t optional.
On the other hand: How you implement HR systems matters. You can be legally compliant while respecting cultural values and ways of working. But I couldn’t design those systems without understanding the cultural context.
The wrong approach would be:
❌ Assume my Western HR frameworks are “best practice” and just impose them
❌ Ignore cultural considerations in favour of “standard” processes
❌ Position myself as the expert who knows better
❌ Fail to acknowledge the power dynamics at play
The right approach required:
✅ Acknowledging what I don’t know
✅ Learning about their organisational values and cultural protocols
✅ Adapting my HR frameworks to align with their approach
✅ Positioning myself as a partner, not an authority
✅ Being open about the limitations of my understanding
The Approach: Leading With Humility
From the very first conversation, I was explicit about my position:
“I’m not Aboriginal. I don’t understand your cultural context or the specific challenges Aboriginal-led businesses face. I have expertise in employment law and HR compliance, and I’m here to support you. But I need your guidance on how to do that in a way that respects your cultural protocols and organisational values.”
This wasn’t false humility or performative acknowledgment. It was genuine recognition that:
- I was the outsider here
- They were the experts on their organisation and culture
- My role was to provide technical HR expertise within their framework, not impose mine
- I needed to learn from them as much as they needed to learn from me
Then I asked questions:
About organisational values:
- “What are the core values of your organisation?”
- “How do those values show up in how you work with staff and community?”
- “What’s important to you in how people are managed and treated?”
About cultural protocols:
- “Are there cultural protocols I should be aware of?”
- “Are there ways of communicating or decision-making that are important in your organisation?”
- “What should I know to be respectful in how I work with you?”
About their specific challenges:
- “What challenges do you face that might be different from other businesses I’ve worked with?”
- “What hasn’t worked well when you’ve engaged consultants before?”
- “What would success look like for you in this engagement?”
I listened, took notes, asked clarifying questions when I didn’t understand.
I didn’t assume, impose, pretend to know more than I did.
The Research: Learning Context
Between conversations, I did my homework.
I researched:
- Indigenous business considerations (unique challenges, cultural factors)
- Common issues Aboriginal-led organisations face (governance, funding, community expectations)
- Cultural protocols in workplace settings (where publicly available information existed)
- Indigenous business support networks (who else was doing this work well)
I learned:
- Became a member of the Evolves Allyship community
- Undertook their allyship training over a year and continued the learning journey with them ever since
- It has been a fascinating learning experience
- The rich and diverse multicultures, approximately 250 different ethnically distinct Indigenous people’s that existed on the land of Australia prior to colonisation
- Learning about David Unaipon and Truganini to name two of the historical people that stick strongly in my mind
I wasn’t trying to become an “expert” on Indigenous business (I’m not and never will be, from a few hours of reading).
I was trying to:
- Understand context better
- Avoid obvious mistakes
- Ask better questions
- Be a more informed partner
The Solution: Adapting, Not Imposing
When I designed HR systems for these organisations, I started with their values and way of working, not with “standard HR templates.”
For example:
Performance management: Rather than imposing typical Western performance management (individual KPIs, annual reviews, performance ratings),
I asked:
“How do you currently provide feedback and support staff development? What works well? What’s important to maintain?” And what language suits the cultural framework best?
Then I designed a system that:
- ✅ Met legal requirements (procedural fairness, documentation)
- ✅ Aligned with their community-focused, collective approach
- ✅ Used language and processes that felt right for their organisation
- ✅ Respected their existing ways of working
Employment contracts: Rather than handing them standard template contracts, I asked:
“What’s important to you in how employment relationships are structured? What needs to be clear? What flexibility do you need?”
Then I created contracts that:
- ✅ Met all legal requirements (Fair Work, NES, Award coverage)
- ✅ Reflected their organisational values in the language used
- ✅ Included appropriate flexibility for cultural leave, community obligations
- ✅ Read like their contracts, not generic corporate documents
Recruitment processes: Rather than imposing standard interview processes, I worked with them to design recruitment that:
- ✅ Met legal requirements (anti-discrimination, fair selection)
- ✅ Assessed cultural fit and alignment with organisational values
- ✅ Was accessible to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants
- ✅ Balanced technical skills with cultural understanding
The Result: Partnership, Not Imposition
The outcomes across these engagements:
✅ HR systems implemented that respected their cultural approach while meeting legal compliance requirements
✅ Employment relationships formalised (contracts, policies, procedures) in a way that felt right for the organisation
✅ Staff properly hired and managed using fair, culturally appropriate processes
✅ Compliance achieved without sacrificing organisational values or cultural integrity
✅ Relationships built on mutual respect – I learned from them, they benefited from my technical expertise
Most importantly: The organisations felt heard, respected, and supported rather than lectured, judged, or imposed upon.
The Lesson: Cultural Humility Isn’t Optional
This approach – leading with humility, asking questions, adapting rather than imposing – isn’t just good practice when working with Indigenous organisations.
It’s good practice working with any organisation or community where you’re an outsider.
Whether it’s:
- Working across cultures (Indigenous, multicultural, Deaf community)
- Working across industries (agriculture, healthcare, tech)
- Working across organisation types (for-profit, not-for-profit, social enterprise)
- Working with any group where you don’t share their lived experience
The principles are the same:
1️⃣ Acknowledge what you don’t know (and be specific about it)
2️⃣ Ask questions and listen (not rhetorical questions – genuine inquiry)
3️⃣ Research to understand context (but know research can’t replace lived experience)
4️⃣ Adapt your approach (don’t assume your way is the only way)
5️⃣ Position yourself as partner, not authority (you have expertise to offer, but so do they)
6️⃣ Check your assumptions (constantly – they’ll be there even when you think they’re not)
When I get this right, the result is:
- Better solutions (because they’re designed for the organisation and the people, not imposed on them)
- Stronger relationships (built on respect, not hierarchy)
- Sustainable change (because the organisation owns the solution)
When I get it wrong (and sometimes I do), I:
- Acknowledge it quickly
- Apologise genuinely
- Learn from the feedback
- Do better next time
This Applies Beyond Indigenous Organisations
The same approach has served me well working with:
- Deaf-led organisations (where I’m not Deaf and don’t know Deaf culture)
- Multicultural organisations (where I don’t share the cultural backgrounds)
- Highly technical industries (where I don’t have technical expertise)
In every case: Lead with humility. Ask questions. Listen. Adapt.
Your technical expertise is valuable. But so is their lived experience and organisational knowledge.
The best solutions come from combining both.
Is Your Consultant Approaching Your Business With Humility?
If you’ve engaged consultants before, reflect on their approach:
Did they:
❌ Assume they knew “best practice” without understanding your context?
❌ Impose standard templates without asking if they fit your organisation?
❌ Position themselves as the expert who knows better than you?
❌ Fail to acknowledge limitations in their understanding?
Or did they:
✅ Ask about your organisational values and way of working?
✅ Adapt their approach to fit your context?
✅ Position themselves as a partner, not an authority?
✅ Acknowledge what they didn’t know and ask questions in order to learn?
The quality of the engagement depends significantly on the consultant’s approach.
Work With Me
I’m Sonia King, and I provide HR and employment law support to businesses across NSW and Australia-wide, including Aboriginal-led organisations and other community-focused enterprises.
I don’t impose Western corporate HR templates and call it “best practice.”
I work with you to understand:
- Your organisational values
- Your way of working
- Your specific context and challenges
- What success looks like for you
Then I design HR systems that:
✅ Meet legal compliance requirements (non-negotiable)
✅ Align with your organisational approach (adaptable)
✅ Feel right for your team and community (culturally appropriate)
If you’re looking for HR support that respects your organisation’s unique context:
Book a free 15-minute discovery call.
We’ll discuss your specific needs, and I’ll be honest about whether I’m the right fit to support you.
Because good consulting starts with humility, not arrogance or ignorance.