Celebrating the amazing participants in Cohort 6, another fantastic milestone at the PTA.

The IPS Leadership & Peak Performance Team have been with the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia to deliver their First Level Leaders Program since 2024 .

Over the past two years, six cohorts and around 140 participants have taken part in the program, building their leadership skills, confidence and capability along the way.

Feedback from participants has demonstrated the impact of how these skills don't just affect how you show up at work - but in all areas of your life.

With Cohort 7 about to commence, we’re looking forward to continuing this fantastic partnership and supporting the next group of emerging leaders.

Last week, members of the IPS team were invited to attend Wanju, hosted by the Indigenous Defence & Infrastructure Consortium (iDiC) and Red Invest Capital Holdings (RICH) in Boorloo.

It was a great opportunity to connect with businesses, leaders and partners from across the Indigenous enterprise sector, strengthen relationships and have conversations about future opportunities and collaboration.

A sincere thank you to iDiC and Red Invest Capital Holdings for the invitation and for bringing everyone together. We were grateful to be part of the evening and look forward to building on the connections made.

What a way to welcome Supply Nation Connect to Boorloo.

On Wednesday 12 August, the IPS team joined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, government, corporate Australia and organisations from across the country at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre for Supply Nation Connect 2026.

For IPS, Connect has always been about much more than a tradeshow. It is an opportunity to strengthen relationships, start new conversations, reconnect with familiar faces and celebrate the growing strength and capability of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business sector.

And with Connect taking place in our home state this year, it felt particularly special.

From the moment the doors opened the IPS stand was busy. Throughout the day, our team welcomed clients, partners, colleagues, friends and plenty of new faces for a yarn. We were fortunate to catch up with people from across our network, including Sarah from the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) and SBDC Commissioner Saj Abdoolakhan, along with Dylan Adams, Indigenous Engagement Manager, and many more.

There was plenty of laughter along the way - and, judging by our camera roll at the end of the day, quite a few photos too.

That is one of the things we value most about Connect. Behind every organisation, procurement opportunity and business card are people. Taking the time to have genuine conversations and build relationships is where meaningful partnerships begin.

​We were proud to have a fantastic group representing IPS throughout Connect 2026:

Katina Law – Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director
Cameron Wood – Executive Director, Consulting Division
Katie Clarke – Executive Lead, Leadership & Peak Performance
Jackie Graham – Executive Lead, Workforce Transformation
Kylie Agale – Executive Lead, First Nations Advisory and Project Strategy & Delivery
Kristie McKenzie – Delivery Lead, Project Strategy & Delivery
Shaquille McKenzie – Delivery Lead, First Nations Advisory

A huge thank you to the team for bringing their energy, knowledge and enthusiasm to the day, and for making everyone who stopped by the IPS stand feel welcome.

As a past recipient of Supply Nation's Certified Supplier of the Year, we know first-hand the role Supply Nation plays in championing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and creating opportunities for them to build relationships with government and corporate Australia. Those opportunities matter. So we extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners at this year's Supply Nation Supplier Diversity Awards. 

The event is over. The connections aren't.

The conversations started as new introductions now become relationships. Relationships become opportunities to collaborate. And, ultimately, those connections have the potential to create better futures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, businesses and communities.

To everyone who stopped by the IPS stand, shared a yarn, introduced themselves, reconnected with the team or jumped into one of our many photos - thank you.

And a big thank you to Supply Nation for another incredible Connect and for continuing to bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, government, industry and organisations together.

Until next year. 💙

Friday 7 August was all about celebrating our participants and everything they achieved during the training phase of the Local Jobs Better Futures employment program delivered by our incredible Workforce Transformation team.

Over two weeks, participants completed accredited industry training, developed valuable employability skills, built their confidence and took another important step towards employment in the construction industry.

A big thank you to Equip Safe and Skill Hire for delivering the training and practical industry skills throughout the program.

We were also delighted to welcome Matt Keogh MP, who joined us to celebrate our graduates and share some encouraging words about the opportunities ahead.

And while graduation is worth celebrating, this is only the beginning. Our IPS mentoring team will continue supporting participants over the next 6–10 months as they work towards employment and the next stage of their journey.

To every graduate: you showed up, put in the work and backed yourselves. Congratulations! We can’t wait to see what comes next.

Workforce Australia Local Jobs is a Workforce Transformation employment program funded by the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.