Truth-telling is not just about the past; it’s a necessary step towards justice, reconciliation, and meaningful change. Without fully acknowledging the histories, experiences, and leadership of First Nations peoples, Australia risks continuing to uphold existing barriers to equity and inclusion.

At Diversity Council Australia’s (DCA) recent First Nations Insights event, A Pathway to National Truth-telling, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss spoke about the importance of truth-telling in shaping a fair and just national agenda. Following her keynote, the commissioner joined a panel discussion hosted by Kate Russell, CEO of Supply Nation, featuring Travis Lovett, Deputy Chair and Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and Shelley Cable, Head of First Nations Strategy, Australia at ANZ.

Together, these First Nations leaders shared powerful insights on the role of corporate Australia in truth-telling, how organisations can incorporate this process into their daily operations, and how we can open hearts and minds in an era of denial and division.

Truth-telling and deep listening as a daily practice

Ignoring the truth of Australia’s history means failing to address the deep-rooted injustices that have shaped the experiences of First Nations peoples, leading to ongoing disparities in employment, education, health, and economic opportunity. When workplaces dismiss or overlook these truths, they reinforce systemic disadvantage and prevent meaningful progress toward equity and inclusion.

Shelley Cable pointed out that workplaces must prioritise listening as a first step toward genuine truth-telling, noting that First Nations people have long been clear about their needs and experiences.

“First Nations people do not have a problem telling the truth. Their problem is when other people don’t listen,” she said.

“Truth-telling itself is not new. Having a forum to actually welcome that truth and to actually listen, that is the new part.”

Commissioner Katie Kiss agreed, adding that while it is important for organisations to listen, they must also use their public influence to back First Nations voices.

“We need our corporates, and we need those with influence backing us. This is everyone’s responsibility. We need everybody doing their bit,” Commissioner Kiss said.

“The responsibility for truth-telling can’t only sit on the shoulders of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples because there’s been a two-way process in this country since colonisation. So, that responsibility has to be borne by all.”

Shelley also highlighted that truth-telling is an everyday practice – something that individuals and organisations must integrate into their daily operations.

“Every Welcome to Country, every Acknowledgement of Country… is a chance to actually talk about truth-telling and to educate people through your acknowledgements of country,” she said.

“On a very practical daily level, knowing your history and being able to share something that you’ve learnt when you give a meaningful acknowledgement of country is a really great way to do that.”

Making truth-telling relevant to organisations

Beyond individual actions, organisations must understand why this work matters to them and how it connects to their mission. Shelley emphasised that for companies to take truth-telling seriously, they must make it relevant to their operations.

“All of us in corporate Australia are always thinking about employment, about our customers,” Shelley said. “If you take a First Nations employment example, we need to understand the truths of our First Nations employees if we want to be a better employer and attract top First Nations talent.”

“If you’re here to serve customers, you need to actually understand what your customers want. How many First Nations customers does your organisation have? By understanding and removing the invisibility of First Nations people in your organisation you can actually spotlight how they’re relevant to your employees and customers.”

“There are so many links you can draw between your organisation and First Nations people, and if you don’t have a good relationship with First Nations people, or if you don’t know anything about your First Nations customers or employees, it’s going to make your job harder as an organisation.”

Shelley suggested that companies start by identifying the relevance of First Nations people to their business and ensuring they listen to and understand their experiences.

“So being able to translate it into a business case around why First Nations are relevant to your organisation and therefore, why you need to understand their lived experience and their experience with your organisation, I think is a really helpful place to start.”

Corporate Australia’s role in truth-telling

Commissioner Travis Lovett underscored the impact organisations have had on the historical and ongoing economic injustices against First Nations people. He pointed out that many corporate institutions today were built on wealth extracted from stolen land, without any benefit to Traditional Owners.

“Since the Gold Rush, $287 billion was extracted from these lands here in Victoria and $0 went to mob. Many of these organisations are founded on pretty wealthy areas of Country,” Commissioner Lovett said.

He called for organisations to look for opportunities to work with local First Nations communities to strengthen self-determination and create pathways to economic participation, such as employment programs, scholarships, and procurement strategies.

“Truth-telling is not about divisiveness. It’s about being open and talking about how we move forward together.”

Commissioner Katie Kiss added that businesses must ensure their actions do no harm. This means critically assessing the impact of their contracts, services, and policies on First Nations people.

“Understand the contracts that you are taking on board and review them in the context of what harm does this cause to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?” she said.

“If you’re working in the consultation space, for example, when you’re given a contract to do work or research that looks at a policy approach that is going to impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, have you got Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people contracted to do that work? Or are you taking that money and having an impact that is actually harmful to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?”

“Seek to conduct yourselves with integrity that builds, empowers, and creates self-determination and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Truth-telling is about moving forward, not dividing

One of the most pressing challenges discussed was how to engage people who are resistant to truth-telling. Shelley emphasised that workplaces must invest in cultural awareness training and ensure that it’s designed and delivered by First Nations people.

“[At ANZ], we had a First Nations business actually create that cultural awareness training from scratch,” she said.

“And in that training, we made sure to include truth-telling, to call out the history of First Nations people that is relevant to our industry.”

Commissioner Lovett added allies must educate themselves so they can step up and challenge misinformation.

“We don’t fight to be treated differently. We fight for equity. We don’t want leg-ups, we don’t want handouts, we want equity. And that comes through making sure that we have systemic inclusion, not exclusion.”

One of the most powerful messages from the discussion was that truth-telling is not about division – it’s about progress.

“Truth-telling is about us learning each other – we can’t reconcile if we don’t know who each other are and truth-telling is a central component of that,” said Commissioner Kiss.

“That is the intent that comes from our hearts in these conversations about truth-telling. It is not about blame, it is not about holding anybody to ransom for the past wrongs that have been done to our people, despite the impact that that’s had. It’s about bringing our country together.”