This practice exists for organisations that have moved past whether structural change is necessary, and are ready to address how it happens.
The work offered here is analytical and advisory. It operates upstream — at the level of regulatory governance design, accountability frameworks, and the epistemological assumptions embedded in how health practitioner regulation functions.
It is the difference between a regulator that has stated a commitment to cultural safety, and one that can enforce it.
The basis for this work
Sixteen health professions. Australia's first national cultural safety strategy, implemented across the National Scheme — a world-first for a health practitioner regulation agency.
A tribunal disqualification. In 2023, a medical practitioner was disqualified for anti-Indigenous racism. That outcome was produced by deliberate regulatory architecture, not by goodwill.
Fifteen years at the intersection of Indigenous health policy and national regulatory frameworks, including as National Director at Ahpra.
CLEAR Regulatory Excellence Award — international recognition from the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation
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My Services
Procurement
Indigenous Regulatory Practice is a Supply Nation registered supplier.
ABN 68 533 184 515
Commonwealth, state and territory agencies with Indigenous procurement commitments can engage this practice directly. Direct approaches ahead of a formal RFQ or tender process are welcome.
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A structural assessment of whether authority over cultural safety has actually moved in your organisation.
Most organisations working on cultural safety cannot answer a simple question: what decision has been made differently because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people hold power here?
Not were consulted. Not were represented. Hold power.
The Threshold Assessment answers that question in writing, with evidence, in a form your board can read.
What it examines
Cultural safety reform has two thresholds, and they run in one order.
Threshold 1 is the rescinding of white and institutional power. Threshold 2 is the active support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination, leadership, knowledges and governance.
Most organisations begin at Threshold 2. They commission, resource, consult and engage — all of which can be done without relinquishing anything. The work is real, the intent is real, and the structure is unchanged.
The Assessment establishes which threshold your organisation is actually operating at.
What it involves
Review of your governing instruments, delegations, advisory group terms of reference, board minutes, funding arrangements and prior reviews
A 90-minute structured session with the responsible executive
Two short conversations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff or advisory members
A written Assessment delivered within 15 business days
What you receive
A written Assessment reaching one of three findings:
Threshold crossed. Authority has moved, with evidence. The organisation is positioned for structural work.
Ready for a threshold decision. The organisation is capable, but nothing has yet been rescinded. The Assessment identifies the specific decision that would change that.
Not ready. Named, evidenced, with the conditions that would change the answer.
All three are complete findings. The third is frequently the most useful, because it is the one an organisation cannot commission from a provider who needs to be invited back.
What it is not
Not a training review. Not a curriculum audit. Not a Reconciliation Action Plan assessment. Not a strategy, and not a plan.
Terms
$20,000 + GST. Fixed fee.
The Assessment presents findings on whether authority over cultural safety has moved within your organisation. It may conclude that it has not. The findings are the deliverable and are not subject to client amendment.
Who commissions this
Chief executives, registrars and boards in health regulators, accreditation bodies, specialist medical colleges, health departments and health services — where the obligation is genuine, the work has been underway for some time, and the results are not what was expected.
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Project Engagement — substantive analytical and advisory work.
Scoped following a Threshold Assessment and structured around clearly defined outcomes — not hours. Work typically spans regulatory framework analysis, governance design advisory, strategy development and writing, policy development, strategic synthesis, and evidence review.
After the Threshold Assessment, you receive a proposal with a choice of options — different ways to reach the outcome, at different depths of engagement and investment — so the decision is how we work together, not whether. Each option is bespoke to your regulatory context and your organisation’s genuine capacity for transformation.
Investment: most substantive engagements between $110,000 and $250,000+.
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Strategic Retainer — a live advisory relationship.
For organisations navigating sustained regulatory transformation: ongoing access to specialist, sovereignty-grounded advisory expertise for complex, time-sensitive issues as they arise. The retainer maintains a live strategic relationship rather than a reserve of banked advice; unused capacity does not carry over, by design. It suits senior decision-makers who need an independent perspective available to them consistently across a period of change.
Investment: from $6,000 per month, minimum three-month commitment.
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The Indigenous Regulatory Community of Practice (IRCoP) is a sovereign knowledge community for Indigenous regulatory practitioners across Australia, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and Turtle Island (United States of America and Canada).
Regulatory bodies can support Indigenous practitioners in their workforce and broader regulatory ecosystem through IRCoP organisational membership - providing access to peer connection, collective knowledge, and sovereignty-grounded professional development that institutional environments rarely offer.
Organisational membership is available on an annual basis. Enquire to learn more.
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Indigenous Regulatory Practice welcomes direct approaches from government agencies and health sector organisations seeking a First Nations led specialist for RFQ or tender processes in regulatory policy, cultural safety frameworks, evidence review, and strategic analysis.
If you are developing a procurement process and want to understand whether this practice is the right fit, direct enquiries are welcome before formal submission.
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Because this is a specialist practice of one, I take on a limited number of engagements each year, and Threshold Assessments are scheduled in the order enquiries are received. Engagements are invoiced at agreed milestones. Invoices issue on delivery of each milestone and are payable within 30 days. Late payment incurs interest. All fees are exclusive of GST.
What this practice does not offer
This practice is not the right fit if you are looking for:
Cultural awareness or cultural competency training. Implementation or project delivery. Facilitation of community consultation processes. Advice that validates organisational decisions already made. Engagements where Indigenous expertise is sought for optics rather than genuine structural transformation.
Organisations at the beginning of their cultural safety journey — where the primary need is awareness-raising rather than structural analysis - will be better served by other providers.
All fees are quoted exclusive of GST.