BML Business Advisory Services & Organisational Development

10/10/2026

✨ National Carers Week: Caring for Those Who Care for Our Mob ✨

For me, this year’s National Carers Week theme, “Care for a carer: Making carers visible,” speaks to something deeply important within our families and communities.

As an Aboriginal woman, I see caring through our relationships, kinship and connection. For many of us, caring for someone we love is part of being family. We may call ourselves a daughter, son, partner, grandchild, sister or brother long before we recognise ourselves as a carer.

But that does not mean our own need for care and support should go unseen.

Walking alongside Mum through pancreatic cancer and end-of-life journey, I became her carer, advocate and navigator. I asked questions, followed up services and helped our family understand what was happening, while carrying my own fear and sadness as her daughter.

Mum was a strong Aboriginal woman and a Stolen Generations survivor. Supporting her meant respecting her choices, protecting her dignity and ensuring her culture, identity and family connections were recognised in her care.

Our experience reinforced for me how much it matters when services take time to listen, build trust and ask what is important to the person and their family.

For Aboriginal carers, support needs to recognise these relationships and responsibilities. It needs to make room for family and kin, respect cultural obligations and understand how past experiences with institutions may shape trust. Every family’s story is different. Asking and listening are essential.

Making our carers visible means recognising both the care they give and the care they need. It means clear information, culturally safe services, practical help and opportunities to rest without feeling they are letting their loved ones down. It means involving carers in conversations, with the person’s consent and valuing the knowledge they bring.

Thank you, Palliative Care NSW, for highlighting the importance of caring for carers and sharing resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

This National Carers Week, check in with someone caring for their mob. Make time for a cuppa and a yarn. Offer practical help and keep showing up.

Our carers deserve to feel seen, heard, respected and supported, within our families, our communities and the services we turn to.

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫

Today marks the start of National Carers Week (11-17 October 2026), a time to recognise and celebrate the more than 3 million Australians who provide unpaid care and support to family members and friends.

This year’s theme, "Care for a carer: Making carers visible," reminds us to acknowledge the invaluable contribution carers make every day and to ensure they feel seen, supported and valued. Whether caring for someone with a chronic illness, disability, dementia, mental health condition, life-limiting illness, or age-related frailty, carers play a vital role in our communities.

If you're caring for a loved one receiving palliative care, remember that support is available.

Explore resources from Palliative Care NSW on our website:
🔸Carer resources, including our Palliative Caring Booklet
🔸Non-English language resources
🔸Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources

🤝 Additional support is available through Carer Gateway, including counselling, peer support, respite services, financial assistance, coaching, emergency planning and more:

🗓️ Looking after yourself is an important part of caring for others. Join our upcoming PalliLEARN webinar on 28 October 2026 (11:00am-12:00pm AEDT) and discover practical strategies for incorporating self-care into everyday life. Register on our Website: Our Program section.

This National Carers Week, let's take a moment to thank the carers in our lives and remember to care for the carers too. To find out more visit Carers Week

10/10/2026

⏰ A reminder: Indigenous Advancement Strategy Survey closing soon

The National Indigenous Australians Agency’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) Survey is closing at 11.59pm AEDT on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.

If you’re a service provider, organisation, community member or individual with experience engaging with IAS programs, this is your chance to share your insights. Your feedback will help shape how the IAS can better support the needs and aspirations of First Nations peoples and communities.

The survey takes around 15 minutes and includes options for both quick responses and more detailed input.

🔗 Have your say: https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-advancement-strategy-survey

Your voice matters in strengthening programs that support First Nations communities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website may contain images and voices of deceased people.

10/10/2026

✨ World Hospice amp; Palliative Care Day – 10 October 2026

✨ Pain Management: An Essential Part of Palliative Care

Today, I’m thinking about my Mum, Carol Leon, and her end‑of‑life journey with pancreatic cancer a journey our family walked alongside her with love, fear, strength and deep cultural connection. This year’s theme, Pain Management: an essential part of Palliative Care, speaks directly to what we lived through.

Pain relief gave Mum the chance to keep being herself. Even when she had become “extremely emaciated and physically a shell of the woman we had always known”, her determination to stay connected to family never left her. Strong pain management meant she could still get out and visit the people she loved still living, still choosing, still holding onto her autonomy.

One moment that changed everything for us was when a healthcare professional simply asked about Mum’s cultural and family needs. “It was someone asking a genuine question, listening to the answer and showing through their actions that Mums culture, identity and family relationships mattered.” That’s part of pain management too seeing the whole person, not just the illness.

As a family, we also carry a deep reflection. We wish we had known more about the full range of palliative care options available especially the supports that could have helped Mum stay at home and pass into Dreaming surrounded by family, culture and Country. As an Aboriginal woman and Stolen Generations survivor, finishing her journey at home would have meant everything to her and to us. Many families don’t know what’s possible and we were one of them.

Walking with Mum taught me that even at the end of life, there is still life to be lived. Pain management makes space for dignity, culture, connection and choice. It helps families breathe a little easier in moments that are already so heavy.

In loving memory of our Mum, Carol Leon — Aboriginal woman, Stolen Generations survivor, and the heart of our family.

🔗 My personal story: https://lnkd.in/gyViBWA7

🔗 My page on the Palliative Care Australia website: https://lnkd.in/e7-vD7BQ

🔗 Explore the updated NRPCCC page: https://lnkd.in/g4pm7hCY

🔗 Interested in engaging a representative? Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gdZZTTS8

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲: 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟎 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫

Today is World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD), with the theme Pain Management: An Essential Part of Palliative Care. This theme was chosen by the WHPCD organisers to re-emphasise the holistic treatment of pain in palliative care, recognising that suffering is not only physical but can also be psychological, social and spiritual.

These forms of distress are deeply interconnected. A person who feels lonely, frightened or overwhelmed may experience their physical symptoms more intensely. Likewise, addressing emotional and social concerns can sometimes help reduce a person’s overall suffering.

On this global day of recognition, we acknowledge the highly skilled and multidisciplinary specialist palliative care teams across NSW, who deliver holistic and person-centred care.

Read more by visiting our website's news section.

Learn more about the 2026 WHPCD by visiting Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance

🗣️ Join us at the Palliative Care NSW 2026 State Conference where this theme will be considered further in one of our concurrent presentations: "Exploring Associations Between Pain Burden and Psychosocial Distress in a Rural NSW Palliative Care Population."

Learn more and register by visiting our website's event page 🧡

10/10/2026

✨ When the Week Feels Heavy but the Vision Still Matters ✨

This week, I felt down‑hearted. I was disappointed that my business wasn’t growing as quickly as I had anticipated. It made me question my pace, my progress and whether I was truly moving forward in this shift from being an employee to business owner. And it didn’t help with it being the first week of daylight saving my energy felt off, my rhythm disrupted and everything just felt heavier.

In that heaviness, I realised how much I missed my mum. How much I longed for her reassurance, her belief in me, her way of making everything feel possible. I wished there was a direct line to heaven so I could hear her voice hear her words of love and affection reminding me that I’m stronger than I feel and capable of more than I know.

That moment made me dig deep. To accept the reality of slow progress. To remind myself of my purpose and my self‑worth. To reignite that confidence to back myself, even when the results aren’t instant and the journey feels long.

I’m choosing to move forward with her love guiding me and with the courage she taught me to carry.

"A slow week, a tender heart, and a reminder to back myself anyway."

07/10/2026

"Community voices lead the way"

I strongly encourage families, communities and ACCOs to have your say on the Indigenous Advancement Strategy. True community‑led decision‑making only happens when the people who live, lead and care for Country shape the programs designed to support them.

The IAS is the main way the National Indigenous Australians Agency funds and delivers programs for First Nations people including new and expanded initiatives like Remote Jobs and Economic Development and Indigenous Rangers.

To strengthen this progress, we need your voices. Families, communities and ACCOs hold the knowledge, experience and aspirations that ensure IAS funding genuinely reflects what matters most on the ground.

Your input shows what real community leadership looks like. Your feedback guides better programs, stronger outcomes and funding that aligns with community priorities.

Have your say through the short online survey: niaa.gov.au/ias-survey

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website may contain images and voices of deceased people.

23/09/2026

"Walking My Path with Purpose, Strength, and Culture."

Starting a business has been one of the most challenging and transformative decisions of my life. The journey hasn’t been linear there have been highs, lows and moments where I questioned whether I was truly meant for this path. But every step, even the slow ones, has taught me something powerful.

This year I completed two projects that became more than deliverables. They became opportunities for deep self‑reflection and growth. They reminded me that progress doesn’t have to be fast to be meaningful. It’s okay to build steadily. It’s okay to take my time. I don’t need to conquer everything at once.

Over the past month, my professionalism and integrity were questioned. At first, I felt angry because integrity and professionalism aren’t just values I hold they are part of my brand, my identity and my cultural responsibility. Having them challenged based on second‑hand information and an incomplete story, then shared with another professional, was confronting.

But after stepping back, I remembered my worth. I recognised that this wasn’t a reflection of me it was a reflection of the individual trying to tarnish my name. I stand on 40 years of experience working across Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in various sectors. My integrity has been built through decades of service, cultural accountability and community trust. One person’s attempt to undermine that cannot erase a lifetime of contribution.

What has kept me grounded is the incredible support around me. My family and friends have been my backbone lifting me, encouraging me and reminding me who I am when the world tries to tell me otherwise. Their belief in me has carried me through the tough days and strengthened me on the good ones.

This journey is far from over, but I’m moving forward with clarity, resilience, and gratitude. I’m proud of the legacy I continue to build slowly, intentionally and with integrity that remains unshaken.

21/09/2026

"Stronger Together: Respectful Conversations Build Stronger Communities"

As a proud Gumbaynggirr woman who has spent almost four decades working in and alongside our communities, I have seen what becomes possible when our people support one another, share knowledge and work towards a common purpose. I have also seen how lateral violence can damage relationships, undermine good work and discourage people from stepping forward.

Recently, I became aware that questions had been raised about my integrity and professionalism without anyone first speaking directly with me or giving me an opportunity to provide context. I found this difficult not only because I value my professional reputation, but because my work has always been grounded in a genuine commitment to our people and communities.

This experience has encouraged me to reflect on how easily misunderstandings can develop when we speak about someone without first speaking with them. It has reminded me that each of us brings different experiences and perspectives and that we may not always have the full story.

One lesson I continue to carry is the importance of creating space for honest and respectful conversations. When concerns arise, speaking directly with the person involved provides an opportunity to listen, clarify information, understand different perspectives and find a constructive way forward.

In my own practice, I will continue to approach people directly, listen without judgement, check the accuracy of information before forming a view and remain open to respectful feedback. I will also continue to acknowledge the contributions of others and support our people to lead, grow and succeed.

Our cultures teach us the importance of kinship, respect, mutual support, collective responsibility and care for community. These are the values I choose to draw upon as I continue learning, reflecting and moving forward.

We may not always agree, but we can choose to communicate with integrity, compassion and respect. When we speak with one another not about one another, we help strengthen the relationships that hold our communities together.

31/08/2026

Closing the Gap demands more than good intentions. It requires collective leadership, sustained commitment and the courage to change how our systems work.

Social change challenges racism, deficit narratives and unequal power. Systems change transforms the policies, funding, governance and institutional practices that continue to shape inequitable outcomes.

This work calls on governments, organisations, services and communities to move together:

* from consultation to shared authority and decision-making
* from short-term programs to sustained and equitable investment
* from mainstream-led responses to Aboriginal community-controlled solutions
* from measuring activity to shared accountability for meaningful outcomes

Aboriginal people and communities hold the knowledge, strength and cultural authority to lead this change. Our collective responsibility is to listen, build genuine partnerships, share power and follow through on our commitments.

When Aboriginal leadership, social change and systems reform are brought together, we can create lasting change and achieve genuine progress towards Closing the Gap.

29/08/2026

✨ BML Business Advisory Services & Organisational Development – Website Launch ✨

Today marks a proud step forward for BML as we officially launch our website. It’s a space that reflects the heart of our work, our commitment to capability building, empowerment and culturally grounded organisational development.

The design journey is still unfolding and further updates are already in progress. Over the coming weeks you’ll see new elements, refined structure and deeper storytelling added as we continue shaping a site that truly represents who we are and the communities we walk alongside.

For now, I’m excited to share the first look:
www.bmlconsultancy.com.au

Thank you to everyone who has supported this vision. More to come as BML continues to grow with purpose and clarity.

BML is a First Nations-owned consultancy helping organisations build cultural capability, strengthen governance and create meaningful, sustainable outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

28/08/2026

It’s such an honour to be a Representative on the National Register of Palliative Care Consumers and Carers. This role allows me to advocate for consumers and carers through my lived experience, especially my Mum’s journey with pancreatic cancer and the cultural responsibilities I carried as her daughter.

Walking alongside her through end‑of‑life care taught me that palliative care is never just clinical. It is family, culture, identity, connection, dignity and being heard. For our mob, these experiences are shaped by history, trauma, resilience and the strength of kinship. These truths must guide how services listen, design and deliver care.

I’m proud to be part of a collective team who are deeply committed to improving palliative and end‑of‑life care across Australia. It is sensitive work that requires compassion, cultural humility and a willingness to listen to the voices of those who have lived it.

With almost four decades working across Aboriginal health, community services, aged care and Closing the Gap systems reform, I bring both lived experience and professional insight to this national role. My commitment is to ensure Aboriginal voices, families and cultural ways of knowing are respected as partners in care, not an afterthought.

I’m grateful to contribute to a movement that is working toward culturally safe, compassionate palliative and end‑of‑life care for all our people.

You can read more about my story and my role here: https://palliativecare.org.au/people/bronwyn-leon/