First Nations Engagement in the energy + water sectors: Understanding Culture, Community and Relationships

Better Practice First Nations Engagement  

Learning by coming with me...

Join us on 14 December at 1PM AEDT for a panel discussion featuring Rodney Carter, CEO of the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation and Damian Wells, Managing Director at Coliban Water to discuss:

• Leading water and energy corporations in water and renewables strategy on Country
• Uncomfortable conversations, speaking truth and maintaining relationships with stakeholders
• Insights on integrating Aboriginal culture within organisations
• Showing authentic support for Traditional owner priorities and what this looks like in practice.

Together, our panelists and co-hosts will offer valuable perspectives on building stronger relationships with Aboriginal communities, reflecting on past experiences to provide advice for a more inclusive and sustainable future.

Meet the panelists

Rodney Carter, CEO for the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation

Rodney Carter is a descendant of Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta people and resides at Bendigo (his grandfather’s traditional Country). He has extensive experience in Cultural Heritage management and a particular interest in linking people to landscape through the integration of biodiversity and Cultural Heritage projects. 

Rodney currently works for the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation as Group Chief Executive Officer. He is an inaugural member of the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council, Chair of the Dja Dja Wurrung Enterprises Board and a member of the Dhelkunya Dja Land Management Board. He was a member of Museum Victoria’s Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee, then Regional Director of the North-West Regional Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Program. And has been a member since its creation of the Stronger Partnerships Regional Development Committee for the Loddon Campaspe area. He has been appointed to the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria for a three-year term and subsequently voted for the Co-Chair of the ‘Elders Voice.

A defining moment for Rodney was negotiating for, and being a signatory to, the Dja Dja Wurrung people's native title settlement under the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010. Damian Wells Damian’s career has included work in technical and leadership roles in water, environment and regulation. Damian is Chair of Zero Emissions Water (ZEW) and the Bendigo Advisory Board for La Trobe University.

Damian Wells, Managing Director at Coliban Water

Damian’s career has included work in technical and leadership roles in water, environment and regulation.

After early-career technical roles in catchment management and water, Damian held an operational leadership role at Goulburn-Murray Water before being appointed CEO of North Central Catchment Management Authority in 2008.

In 2015 Damian was appointed an Executive Director at the Environment Protection Authority Victoria where he led the statewide regulatory operations. Damian also has over 10 years’ experience as a Non-Executive Director having previously served on the Board of Anglicare Victoria and its predecessor organisations.

Damian is Chair of Zero Emissions Water (ZEW) and the Bendigo Advisory Board for La Trobe University.

Meet the co-hosts

Graeme Gardner, Aboriginal Community Engagement Advisor at TasNetworks

Graeme is a Palawa man, descending from the Trawlwoolway people of North East Tasmania (lutruwita). Graeme has a long held passion for working to address critical issues affecting the Aboriginal community, particularly in relation to Aboriginal health and wellbeing, social justice and the recognition of our cultural identity.

Nina Braid, Aboriginal Partnerships Manager at Yarra Valley Water

Nina is an Aboriginal woman from far-north South Australia. She has over ten years’ experience working in and with communities for conservation and environmental purposes as a project manager at the Indigenous Land Corporation.

About the sessions

Come along to our First Nations Engagement Community of Practice, where First Nations-led thought leaders share knowledge and engagement ideas across the energy and water sectors. Find out more about this Community of Practice and the co-hosts on the Energy Charter website.

Proudly co-hosted by the Energy Charter and Water Services Association of Australia.