As Australia celebrates Indigenous Business Month, IPS Management Consultants - a majority First Nations-owned business - celebrates a decade of delivering high impact professional services that drive sustainable outcomes.

Ten years; a decade delivering thousands of futures

Established in 2015, IPS Management Consultants is an award-winning professional services company providing evaluation, advisory, organisational development, and workforce capability services to Federal and State Governments, large corporations, small businesses and community organisations.

From its earliest days, IPS aspired to create employment pathways to careers in professional services for First Nations people as well as opportunities for equity ownership in the business.

Led by Co-CEO and Executive Director Katina Law, Co-CEO Julie Hillier, and Executive Directors Damien Chalk and Cameron Wood, IPS has grown to a national workforce of more than 60 employees across WA, SA, VIC, NSW, and the ACT, with First Nations people representing approximately 26% of its team – including over half of our Senior Executive / Director and Leadership roles held by First Nations people.
​
IPS’s purpose has always been clear; to Create Better Futures. IPS embraces opportunities to create meaningful pathways for First Nations people, businesses and communities. This mission has seen IPS recognised twice as Supply Nation’s Certified Supplier of the Year (2018 and 2019) – testament to its sustained leadership and advocacy for First Nations economic empowerment.
​

​Programs behind the recognition:

·      Track to Success – a whole-of-system pathway transitioning people from prison into sustainable jobs in WA’s rail and construction sectors. The program is supporting up to 120 WA prisoners transitioning into jobs in rail infrastructure and maintenance during the last six months of their sentence.

·      Yaka Dandjoo ‘Ready for Work’ - equipping unemployed and entry-level people with skills for long-term careers in construction. Over its duration, the program supported 191 participants across 13 cohorts, with 132 individuals securing employment either on the Bunbury Outer Ring Road project or within the broader construction sector. A total of 44 graduates went on to take up traineeships on completing the program.

·      IPS Liminal™: A trailblazing whole of systems program that creates transformative change. The program combines First Nations knowledge, neuroscience and human-centred design to shift culture and re-shape workforce systems. With hundreds of Federal and State Government participants right across Australia, IPS Liminal™ is building a pipeline of empowered First Nations leaders and inclusive leaders.
​
·      IPS Thrive™ Life Skills: A trauma-informed program building confidence, communication and work‑readiness for jobseekers in the construction and infrastructure sector. Since 2020, IPS has delivered cohort specific training to more than 200 participants.

Consulting excellence; transforming organisations, empowering communities

Beyond its acclaimed programs and across Australia, IPS delivers high‑impact consulting across government, corporate and community sectors – grounded in cultural integrity, while focused on measurable outcomes. Key areas include:

·      Strategy & Governance: IPS has delivered strategic planning across 1.5 million km² of Aboriginal land and supported over 250 First Nations businesses and organisations to build capability, attract investment, and drive impact in sectors such as tourism, renewable energy, native foods, and construction.

Recent projects include working with PKKP Aboriginal Corporation and Trusts, Tjurabalan Native Title Land Aboriginal Corporation, Oak Valley Aboriginal Corporation, and Maralinga Tjarutja Inc.

Our approach, grounded in First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing, was recently showcased to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources during Reconciliation Week 2025.

·      Organisational development and change: We align people, structure and culture to strategy - designing operating models, lifting leadership capability and embedding change so improvements stick.

Our recent works includes a major review of a large Aboriginal corporation in Central Australia to strengthen operational and financial sustainability and a multi‑year partnership with the Public Transport Authority to upskill emerging leaders and develop leadership capabilities.

·      Business Advisory and Economic Development: We build capacity so small businesses and entrepreneurs can turn ideas into investable ventures and scale what works. Our clients receive support in transforming ideas into sustainable ventures, with services including viability assessments, market analysis, risk evaluation, and business planning for both start-ups and growth organisations.

Through our partnership with the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) to deliver SBDC Regional, in 2025 alone our team have conducted 5,082 one-on-one advisory sessions to small businesses in regional WA, demonstrating our broad reach and deep impact across the small business sector.

·      Evaluation, research & policy: IPS operates at the forefront of contemporary evaluation practice in Australia - setting new standards for methodological rigour, ethical integrity, and cultural safety.

By centring First Nations governance, respecting data sovereignty, and amplifying community voices, we deliver actionable insights and measurable change. Current and recent evaluations span youth justice diversion, early childhood support, disaster recovery, housing, health, cultural mapping and land management.

With innovation, integrity, and empathy at our core, IPS is trusted to provide evidence-informed evaluation that drives meaningful impact for policymakers and communities nationwide.

·      Leadership, coaching & capability: We build confident, inclusive leaders through evidence‑based coaching, executive programs and cultural capability training. Our programs equip leaders to navigate complexity, drive cultural change and deliver measurable impact across government, corporate and community sectors.

​For example:

• Designing and delivering a compelling, three-year gender equity program for a national sporting organisation.
• Services Australia’s Aspiring Leadership Program (a culturally grounded four‑module pathway for First Nations staff on the path to management).
• Providing uplifting cultural safety capability across ~250+ senior leaders for a federal Government department.

From Procurement to Prosperity

IPS is part of Australia’s thriving Indigenous business sector, now comprising almost 14,000 First Nations-owned businesses that contribute more than $16 billion to the Australian economy each year and employ around 117,000 people.

Since its founding, IPS has been a powerful advocate for the sector, working alongside governments and the private sector to drive structural reform and create sustainable pathways for economic independence.

Founded in the same year as the Federal Government’s Indigenous Procurement Policy, IPS stands as a testament to the policy’s vision: enabling Indigenous entrepreneurship to flourish and strengthen the national economy through procurement, partnerships, and innovation.

​Under the Commonwealth’s Indigenous Procurement Policy, Indigenous businesses have received more than $9.5 billion in contracting opportunities across more than 64,000 contracts since 2015.

​​Genuine partnership and cultural safety must underpin every decision, every reform, and every outcome we strive to achieve.

Future generations are counting on us to get this right.”

​Media Contact:
For more information, please contact Russell Carling, Executive Lead (Clients & Growth): [email protected]
IPS Management Consultants
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1300 111 477
Website: www.ipsau.com.au
​

The Public Transport Authority’s latest cohort of emerging leaders have graduated from the IPS’s First Level Leadership Program, aimed at developing authentic, inclusive leadership across Western Australia’s transport network.

PTA Managing Director Elwyn Gearon told graduates that the journey of leadership was one of curiosity, growth and teamwork, not perfection.

“If you think you know everything, you won’t make a great leader,” he said.

“Leadership is about growing your teams, refining your skills and evolving into the best person you can.”

“Be open to learning, to feedback and to unexpected twists that shape your journey,” Elwyn said.

He encouraged participants to carry the lessons from the program into their daily work, adding that leadership “is not about having all the answers” but about building trust and collaboration.

“This organisation is growing rapidly, from 1,500 to more than 3,000 staff in just seven years and the future is bright for those willing to learn and lead together.”

IPS Co-Founder Damien Chalk reflected on the deeper meaning of leadership and the privilege it carries.
​
“It’s not about telling people what to do, it’s about being curious, helping others achieve their goals and creating the conditions where people can thrive,” Damien said.

Damien shared a moving personal story of his son’s premature birth, explaining how that experience shaped his leadership philosophy through empathy and courage.

“I saw people (in health care) working in true life-and-death circumstances, listening, adapting and including others in decision-making,” he said.

“That’s what great leadership looks like, not command and control, but compassion and collaboration.”

Damien praised the cohort for their commitment to learning and growth, noting that their progress was “observable and inspiring.”

“The service you provide to the people of Western Australia is world-class,” he said.

“You deal with extraordinary complexity every day, and you do it with heart.”
​
“Every choice you make, how you respond, how you lead, shapes that culture.”

​​She said she had already started implementing what she learned, encouraging her team to complete personality assessments to better understand how to work together.
​
The First Level Leadership Program, facilitated by IPS Management Consultants, is part of the PTA’s broader commitment to developing its workforce and fostering a culture of inclusion, collaboration and continuous improvement.

IPS Management Consultants is proud to have won the 2025 NAWIC WA Award for Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion for their Track to Success Program.

The Track to Success program is a whole-of-system employment pathway that transitions people from prison into sustainable jobs in WA’s rail and construction sectors.

Delivered in partnership with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, WA Department of Justice, CAT5, Iron Training Consulting and Workskil, the program is designed to remove barriers to participation and ensures a safe transition into real and sustainable jobs.

A key innovation of this program has been the deliberate inclusion of women, including those in a maximum-security facility. IPS advocated strongly for the inclusion of a women’s facility and worked closely with partners to navigate the complex custodial requirements.

It is the first of its kind to be delivered in a maximum facility and has opened pathways to women where they have historically been excluded, which highlights the importance of creating greater equity and access to employment in the industry.

This recognition is testament to the impact that can be achieved when inclusion, innovation, and collaboration are placed at the centre of workforce solutions.

Jackie Graham, IPS’s Executive Lead of Workforce Transformation, said the award validated the organisation’s approach.

“Through the Track to Success program, IPS has worked directly with State and Federal Governments and partners in the rail sector to design solutions that are authentic, inclusive and industry focused.” Jackie said.

“Inclusion means designing a program that understands the barriers to participation, reducing the impact of those barriers and providing individualised support at each stage,” Jackie said.

“Breaking down systemic barriers has been the biggest challenge.”

“The program provides a whole-of-system approach that helps to address these challenges,” she continued.
​
“Programs like Track to Success prove that inclusion strengthens industries by bringing talent to the workforce that would otherwise be overlooked.”

​The program includes targeted skills training specific to the rail and construction sectors as well as the IPS Thrive program which develops participants life skills.

Mentoring and post-release support are also provided ensuring that Track to Success equips participants with qualifications and confidence. Successful completion of the program leads to a Certificate II  in Rail Maintenance.

A key tenet of the program is preparing employers through supervisor training, a bespoke IPS program that encourages inclusive and culturally safe practices, ensuring workplaces are ready to support participants beyond their initial placement.

Winning this award highlights the importance of partnerships and the need for continued investment to scale impact and ensure long-term program delivery.

For IPS, this award reinforces our role as a trusted partner in solving complex workforce challenges through collaboration, innovation and a commitment to creating better futures.

IPS Aboriginal Participation Manager Kristy McKenzie, a proud First Nations woman herself, said the award signalled that her company’s work is not only being recognised within the industry but also valued by the wider community.

“For me, this was a moment of pride, a reminder of why we do what we do at IPS and that we are making a difference,” Kristy said.

For IPS co-founder Katina Law, a First Nations woman, believes that it was IPS's unique First Nations perspective that led to the successful program and the subsequent recognition via this award.

“IPS's deep community connections mean we understand the barriers to inclusion that disadvantaged people face across Australia."

​As a result, we design our programs to break down these barriers and ensure success.” Katina said.