Australian Rural Leadership Foundation

03/06/2026

National Reconciliation Week wraps up today. But the work does not.

Thank you to everyone who engaged, listened, and shared this week. At ARLF, we are committed to walking alongside First Nations communities every day of the year, through our programs, our practice, and our people.

We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work, meet, and learn.

01/06/2026

As we conclude our National Reconciliation Week reading series, we invite you to reflect on how reconciliation shows up in everyday actions. Throughout the week, we have shared perspectives that challenge assumptions and encourage deeper accountability, and this final piece brings that focus into the daily habits and practices within our workplaces and communities.

Final article 👉 Authenticity Matters in an Acknowledgement of Country

The Acknowledgement of Country has become a familiar part of professional life, yet it increasingly faces both political pushback and concerns that the practice has become a hollow, box‑ticking exercise.

In this thought‑provoking piece, Angela Lynch challenges organisations and individuals to move beyond script‑reading and re‑evaluate how this practice can become a genuine, active reflection of respect and structural accountability.

As we close out this week’s reading list, this article reminds us that reconciliation is embedded in the everyday actions we choose to take and how intentionally we take them.

Author: Angela Lynch
Read more:

Reconciliation Week is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit o ...

30/05/2026

As part of our National Reconciliation Week reading series, we are continuing to share perspectives that challenge us to think more deeply about what reconciliation means in practice. This series is not about offering simple answers. It is about creating space for reflection, listening, and engaging with voices that may question, unsettle or expand our understanding.

Todays article 👉 This National Reconciliation Week, how do we reconcile the irreconcilable?

In this candid and confronting piece, Kate Russell explores the deep fatigue felt across First Nations communities following the Voice referendum, asking an uncomfortable but necessary question: is reconciliation still the best path forward?

Rather than offering easy answers, this article invites readers to sit with complexity, uncertainty and the emotional weight of recent national conversations, and to consider what meaningful reconciliation demands moving forward.

Author: Kate Russell (2024)
Read more: https://hubs.la/Q04hXgHy0...

Kate Russell, CEO of Supply Nation and Board Director at DCA, explains why this National Reconciliation Week may be a difficult time for mob.

28/05/2026

“Adaptation is the process of holding on to what’s working…but also the process of figuring out what we need to let go of.”

In this episode of the Rural Leaders podcast, Dr Ananth Gopal (Founder of Polykala) joins Oli to unpack a side of change we don’t often talk about.

We celebrate resilience and moving forward, but real adaptation also asks us to sit with the loss of what once worked, and face the discomfort that comes with it.

Because before growth comes honesty.
And sometimes, grief.

If something feels like it’s shifting for you right now, maybe this is your reminder to acknowledge what you’re leaving behind too.

🔗 Find this episode under ‘Rural Leaders’ on your favourite podcast platform or via https://hubs.la/Q04hLLjf0

27/05/2026

As we mark National Reconciliation Week, this year’s national theme, All In, reminds us that reconciliation is not a spectator sport, nor is it the sole responsibility of First Nations people to champion.

To prompt meaningful discussion and challenge our assumptions, we will be sharing three insightful perspectives of reconciliation in Australia through the week. Rather than presenting a unified, comfortable narrative, this reading list is intended to spark thought and encourage readers to seek out further reading on these topics.

We encourage you to engage with these pieces not as passive readers, but as active participants willing to reflect on what genuine accountability looks like in our daily practices.

Todays article 👉 All In: 25 Years and Counting

A look back at the defining grassroots moments when Australians have truly stood All In for reconciliation. This piece serves as a necessary reminder that momentum isn't built in corporate boardrooms, but through consistent, collective action.

Reconciliation Australia

We look back at moments where Australians have been 'All In' on our collective reconciliation journey and look forward to the action still required.

27/05/2026

National Reconciliation Week starts today. From 27 May to 3 June, we take time to reflect on our shared history and our shared responsibility to build something better.

At ARLF, First Nations leadership is not a program add-on. It sits at the heart of what we do. Through our Milparanga programs, we walk alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders who are shaping stronger futures for their communities.

This week, we listen. We learn. And we act.

25/05/2026

Session 2 of the Australian Agribusiness Leadership Program (AALP) 2026 has wrapped, and what a session it was.

It all started at Queens Park in Toowoomba on 2 May, and from that first day together, this cohort brought something special. Watching a group of people arrive as strangers and leave as a genuine network is one of those things that never gets old.

Congratulations to everyone who took part. The best is still ahead. 🙌

25/05/2026

Natasha Chandler did not always see herself as a leader.

But somewhere between the practical challenges, the honest conversations, and the connections she made on program, something changed. Her story is one we keep coming back to because it says something important about what is possible when you give people the space and support to grow.

Read the full piece on our blog!

https://hubs.la/Q04hM7-h0

20/05/2026

Something our alumni know well. No matter the industry or the postcode, the leaders we work with share one thing: they are genuinely still on the journey. That openness is what makes the difference.

What is one thing a mentor or peer said that shifted how you see yourself as a leader? We would love to know.

19/05/2026

Out bush in the Northern Territory for Session 3, and Australian Rural Leadership Program Cohort 32 (ARLPC32) had a few days that will stay with them.

After deep work exploring immunity to change, it turns out even a group of established leaders needed a jumping pillow to reset. Play is not optional. It is part of the process.

A morning in the West MacDonnell Ranges at Ormiston Gorge gave the cohort the kind of perspective that only open country and big sky can offer. Sometimes looking up and out is exactly what leadership requires.

Then came a visit to Foodbank, where C32 came face to face with what food security really looks like and what is possible when people commit to working together as an action network. Practical. Purposeful. Grounding.

Leadership is an act of service. And this week showed exactly what that means in practice.

Thank you to Kings Narrative Pty Ltd for making this session what it was.