Fixing the System, Not the Person: A Shift in Indigenous Policy ThinkingWhy the deficit narrative is failing — and what we’re doing instead.
For decades, policies aimed at improving outcomes for First Peoples have focused on changing the individual.
We’ve seen programs designed to “close the gap” in education, health, justice and employment — but many of them treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the problem to be solved, rather than the system they are forced to navigate.
This thinking is not only outdated — it’s harmful.
At Buneen Group, we reject the deficit narrative. We don’t believe that First Peoples need to be fixed. We believe the systems around them need to change.
The Problem with Deficit Thinking
Deficit discourse frames First Peoples in terms of what we lack — low literacy, poor health, unemployment, trauma, incarceration. While these challenges are real, the framing often ignores:
Structural barriers (e.g. racism, policy gaps, underfunded services)
Cultural strengths and solutions already working in communities
Historical context and intergenerational exclusion
The resilience, innovation, and leadership of First Nations people
As Dr Chelsea Watego writes: “We are not problems to be solved. We are people to be understood, respected, and listened to.”
The Shift Toward Systems Reform
A growing body of evidence — from the Closing the Gap refresh, Lowitja Institute, and Jumbunna Institute, to localised First Nations-led reports — is calling for a shift away from top-down program design, and toward:
Community-led development
Strengths-based approaches
Accountability for systems and institutions
Policy that centres culture, identity, and self-determination
How Buneen Group Does It Differently
At Buneen Group, all of our work is designed around a simple principle:
"If the system isn’t safe, the outcomes will never be."
That’s why we:
Conduct cultural audits to review systems, not people
Use the SAFE Method to guide long-term structural change
Provide coaching for managers, not just First Peoples staff
Create truth-telling and governance spaces for community voice
Build culturally grounded programs for kids in care and jobseekers
From Program to Power
We’re not here to deliver another short-term program. We’re here to help organisations and institutions completely rethink how they work with First Peoples.
This is systems change — and it’s long overdue.
Because when we stop trying to fix people, and start fixing systems, we don’t just change lives — we shift futures.
Want to work with us to move beyond compliance and into transformation?
[→ Partner with Buneen Group]
[→ Learn about the SAFE Method]
[→ Read our Case Studies]
