Director, Policy

Gayaa Dhuwi is the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, and suicide prevention. As a members based, community-controlled organisation, we are governed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experts and peak bodies.

Our vision is the highest attainable standard of social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, and suicide prevention outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Our role is to lead and advocate for systemic change that places the voices, strengths, and needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples at the centre of national policies and reforms.

We work in a fast-paced national policy and reform environment where priorities can shift quickly in response to government processes, parliamentary inquiries, sector developments, member priorities, emerging evidence, and national reform opportunities. As a result, our team needs to be made up of individuals who can understand complex policy and service systems, work respectfully within an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and organisations, and produce high-quality work across social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, and suicide prevention.

Gayaa Dhuwi’s work is long-term with progress often requiring sustained advocacy, careful relationships, strong evidence and the ability to keep work moving over time. People who thrive at Gayaa Dhuwi are steady, thoughtful, organised, respectful, clear in their communication and able to maintain perspective while working on issues that matter deeply to our peoples and communities.

The Director, Policy leads Gayaa Dhuwi’s national policy work across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention. The role is responsible for the quality, coherence and strategic impact of Gayaa Dhuwi’s policy positions, publications, submissions, government engagement, and consultation processes.

This is a senior leadership role that requires a sophisticated understanding of the national policy architecture, including the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, Commonwealth and state health agreements, and the legislative and funding landscape. This is required to be able translate that understanding into clear, evidence-informed advice and policy setting advice that moves systems.

The Director, Policy leads a team of four and is a member of the executive leadership team alongside the Director, Reform and the General Manager. The role works in close and active partnership with the Director, Reform to ensure policy positions are grounded in implementation realities, and reform work is guided by Gayaa Dhuwi’s policy analysis and advocacy.

This role will suit a senior leader who combines deep subject matter expertise with strong writing, clear strategic thinking, and a genuine commitment to developing the capability of the people they lead. They will understand that national policy influence requires sustained engagement, careful relationships and the patience to work at the pace of systems change.

• Lead the Policy stream, setting clear priorities, maintaining focus on agreed outcomes, and ensuring the team delivers work to a high standard.
• Oversee the quality and coherence of Gayaa Dhuwi’s policy positions across social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, suicide prevention and related reform areas.
• Identify emerging policy issues, risks and opportunities, and provide clear, timely advice to the CEO and executive leadership team.
• Represent Gayaa Dhuwi in policy forums, government meetings and sector engagements with professionalism and cultural authority.
• Lead, supervise and develop the Policy stream team, providing clear expectations, regular guidance, constructive feedback and quality review of work.
• Actively build the policy capability of team members by identifying development needs, modelling high-quality practice, and supporting staff to grow into more complex and independent work over time.
• Manage performance constructively and in accordance with organisational processes, addressing issues early and with clarity.
• Lead the development of Gayaa Dhuwi’s policy positions, publications, submissions and briefings, ensuring work is evidence-informed, well-argued and appropriate to the audience.
• Oversee policy environment scanning and ensure the organisation has timely situational awareness of relevant developments across Commonwealth and state/territory governments.
• Lead or support Gayaa Dhuwi’s appearances before parliamentary committees and other formal government processes.
• Ensure policy work is informed by member priorities, councils and collaborative networks, lived experience, and relevant evidence.
• Lead Gayaa Dhuwi’s government relations function, maintaining and developing relationships across Commonwealth and state/territory health, mental health and Indigenous affairs portfolios.
• Lead sector engagement activity, including coalition work, in line with organisational priorities.
• Provide strategic oversight of Gayaa Dhuwi’s engagement with the Coalition of Peaks and related national mechanisms.
• Work with the executive leadership team to connect policy priorities with reform implementation, communications and organisational planning.
• Lead Gayaa Dhuwi’s member consultation processes, including councils, collaborative networks and the Members Policy Subcommittee, ensuring member voices inform policy development.
• Oversee the planning and delivery of national roundtables and policy forums.
• Produce and review high-quality written materials, including policy papers, briefs, reports, meeting papers and correspondence.