My Research

Community-centred governance and capital:

an exploration of power, equity, and inclusion in Australian place-based change

This doctoral study explores how communities can govern local resources and investment to create fair, inclusive, and lasting change. It aims to develop practical insights into governance and investment models that build community wealth and wellbeing.

I'm sharing my research here so others – including community members, practitioners, and potential collaborators – can engage with and benefit from this work.

Re-imagining community governance and capital: redefining the Golden Rule

As a kid, my Dad would often invoke what he called the Golden Rule: "Those who hold the gold, make the rules."

In our household, this translated to: "I make the money, I make the rules."

Today, the Golden Rule takes on a new meaning for me. It captures the structural injustices embedded in our society: our economic and financial systems favour those who already control substantial capital – the metaphorical and literal gold. Meanwhile, many people – particularly those marginalised by our systems – are excluded from decisions that directly impact their lives.

However, these systems also hold potential for change.

What if we could redefine the Golden Rule?

What if we could shift systems so communities collectively hold the 'gold' and work together to make new rules?

These questions are at the heart of my PhD research – exploring how we can reshape governance and capital systems to serve the many, not just the few, and create conditions for Australian communities to determine their own futures.

Setting the scene: context and insights

Australia is changing. Our economic, political, social and environmental systems are deeply interconnected, creating complex situations no single group can address alone. These changes are shaped by local contexts and experienced differently – often unequally – across communities. This complexity brings challenges, but also opens new paths for progress.

There's growing focus on place-based approaches – strategies that prioritise local knowledge, decision-making, and resources. These approaches aim to develop context-specific responses and support people working together for long-term change.

The current landscape

- Significant rise in place-based investment over the past decade to address disadvantage and build community resilience.
- Recent government commitments include the Albanese Government's $199.8 million social impact allocation (2023) and PLACE, a $38.62 million government-philanthropy partnership (2024) supporting community-led, place-based work.
- Creation of the Place Based Capital Network to explore local, community-led investment funds linked to a common national structure.
- Growing interest in bioregional approaches – governance aligned with ecological and cultural boundaries rather than political ones.
- Increasing activity at federal, state, and territory levels to broaden measures of progress, focusing on place and social determinants of health, wealth, and wellbeing.
- Treasury's Measuring What Matters (2023) – Australia's first national wellbeing framework.
- Rapid changes in the renewable energy landscape, particularly in regional and rural Australia.
- The Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative estimates $225 billion in additional investment needed by 2050 for an integrated clean energy system.
- The federal Capacity Investment Scheme aims to establish 23 GW of new renewable energy and 9 GW of storage by 2030.
- Increasing trend towards community benefit-sharing in energy and resource projects, though true community ownership remains rare.
- Agreement-making shifting towards comprehensive models focused on long-term community development and economic participation, not just land access and compensation.
- Growing focus on mine closure planning and post-mining transitions (e.g. Gove Peninsula Futures Reference Group), recognising opportunities to build on mining infrastructure for new regional development.
- Growing emphasis on responsible sourcing and supply chains, with programs like Copper Mark certification and the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) framework.
- Industry commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 (Minerals Council of Australia Climate Action Plan).
- Court decisions and legislative changes over 30-40 years (notably Mabo 1992, Native Title Act 1993) have resulted in First Nations peoples holding interests in 60-70% of Australia's land mass – approximately 90% across northern Australia.
- The Yunupingu v Commonwealth (2025) High Court decision establishes native title as Constitutional property, requiring just terms compensation and extending compensation for historical extinguishment back to 1911. Native title rights now include non-exclusive mineral rights, substantially extending economic potential.
- Formation of the First Nations Economic Empowerment Alliance advocating for comprehensive economic reform across land, water, sea Country, cultural and intellectual property rights, and financial assets.
- 60% of Australian resource projects operate on Native Title land, with growing focus on First Nations participation in mining supply chains and leadership, including Aboriginal-owned projects like Gulkula and Winchelsea Mining (NT).
- First Nations Clean Energy Network ensuring First Nations people play a central role in Australia's renewable energy transition.
- Growing interest in legal personhood for nature – recognising natural entities like rivers as having legal rights – including The Yarra River Protection Act (2017) and Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council (2018), advocating recognition of 'First Lore' and the Fitzroy River as a living ancestral being.
- Increasing recognition of bioregional and environmental personhood concepts offers potential to integrate traditional ecological knowledge with contemporary environmental practice.
- Only 2% of global impact assets are held within Australia – significant growth potential.
- Growing adoption of responsible investing principles and evaluation of organisational performance, including community impact.
- First Nations Funders Network established, with movement towards centring First Nations experiences in philanthropic giving.
- Increasing demand for non-prescriptive funding that supports self-determination and local autonomy – emphasis on investments that are locally led, owned, and governed.
- Emergence of programs supporting community-led fund managers, recognising those with lived experience are best placed to direct capital to their communities.
- Foundation Group for Impact Investing (FGII) formed to promote and streamline impact investing in Australia.
- Australian Government support for impact investing: $100 million Outcomes Fund and $11.6 million Social Enterprise Development program (2023 budget).
- Government pledge to collaborate with philanthropy to double giving by 2030, including the Investment Dialogue for Australia's Children (IDAC) focusing on scaling place-based interventions.
- Taxation Administration (Community Charity) Guidelines 2025 create a new structure for community-focused charitable activities with DGR status, mandatory 4% annual distributions, and expanded capital deployment options.

- High reliance on competitive, short-term grants leading to fragmented responses to complex issues.
- Funding for community-led work often focuses on early stages, leaving gaps in long-term resourcing and financial independence.
- Disconnect between local efforts and those with power to fund and scale them.
- Difficulty aligning funding models with bioregional and environmental personhood concepts, which require long-term, holistic approaches.
- Many communities lack the expertise, structures, or mechanisms to activate local assets or manage investments.
- High costs and complexity in establishing investment vehicles – legal, governance, and regulatory requirements.
- The Australian market lacks a range of investors to provide adequate choices for For-Purpose Organisations (FPOs).
- Australia lacks legal infrastructure for whole-of-community ownership where both benefits and risks sit with the community.
- Current proponent-led model places most responsibility on mining companies, limiting opportunities for communities to engage in mine closure and transition planning.
- Gaps in regulatory frameworks for managing post-mining risks and liabilities in ways that give confidence to communities and future land users.
- Tensions between environmental rehabilitation, cultural heritage protection, and new economic opportunities.
- Trust and social license challenges, especially following incidents like the destruction of Juukan Gorge.
- Despite legislative changes, existing law continues to undermine First Nations rights and custodial responsibilities – e.g. mining tenements can restrict or suspend native title rights.
- Limited fungibility of native title assets – meaning they can't easily be exchanged, leased, or used as collateral – restricts economic development. The Yunupingu decision begins to address this by recognising native title as Constitutional property.
- No comprehensive macro-economic policy for First Nations peoples, with significant consequences for communities.
- Gap in impact funds led by those with lived experience of the issues funds seek to address.
- Tension between economic development goals and preservation of bioregional integrity and environmental rights.
- Legal challenges hinder implementation of environmental personhood. International rights-of-nature decisions have been overturned due to liability issues, highlighting tensions between Western legal frameworks and Indigenous cultural authority.

Challenges and gaps

- Growing discussions on increasing the fungibility of First Nations assets – their flexibility for economic use – while preserving native title integrity. The Yunupingu decision creates new possibilities for development models that respect both traditional custodianship and commercial potential.
- Exploring models for long-term leasing or commercial arrangements while maintaining First Nations ownership.
- Considering ways to unlock economic potential and redefine 'value' without compromising social, environmental, and cultural aspects.
- Potential for bioregional and environmental personhood models to inform new approaches that respect both economic and ecological needs.
- Potential to transform resource and renewable industries to prioritise First Nations leadership and self-determined development.
- Opportunity to coordinate and amplify the impact of private and public investment.
- Opportunity for co-ownership between communities, industry, government, philanthropy, and investors to drive local change.
- New governance models placing communities, First Nations groups, and others as partners in mine transition and closure planning.
- Building on mining infrastructure, assets, and capabilities for new regional economic opportunities.
- Exploring environmental personhood concepts in industry partnerships and resource management.
- Growing recognition of the need to move beyond corporate social responsibility to substantive, community-driven benefit-sharing.
- Emerging models ensuring local communities receive tangible benefits from development projects, particularly in renewable energy and resource sectors.
- Expansion and strengthening of the place-based community foundations network.
- Emerging blended finance models to support community-led fund managers – concessional capital, technical assistance, and transaction design – enabling managers to build track records.
- Opportunity to strengthen place-based funding through collaboration among FGII, Place Based Capital Network, Community Foundations Australia, First Nations Funders Network, and PLACE.
- Potential for bioregional governance and environmental personhood frameworks to inform funding structures prioritising long-term ecological and community wellbeing.
- New community charity framework enables philanthropic capital to be held locally with tax benefits, requiring regular distributions to support community work.
- Measuring What Matters framework provides a foundation for embedding wellbeing in government decision-making, moving beyond GDP.
- Murru Waaruu Outcomes Report provides a framework for First Nations economic empowerment and Treaty-like Agreements. Australia can learn from policies in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.
- Potential for environmental and Ancestral personhood laws to inform new approaches to environmental protection, community resilience, and First Nations self-determination. Future frameworks could include well-defined legal rights and appointed guardians.
- Community Charity Guidelines 2025 represent a significant shift toward localising control of philanthropic capital, with potential to integrate with existing place-based work.
- Potential for new legislation supporting whole-of-community ownership – international examples include the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and Community Interest Companies (UK).
- Potential for regulatory frameworks supporting community-led fund managers, learning from UK's Access Foundation and Canada's support for Indigenous funds.
- Opportunity for mutually reinforcing legislation supporting community-centred capital. Key reform areas:
  - First Nations economic self-determination policy
  - Laws supporting whole-of-community ownership
  - Enhanced rights-of-nature legislation

Emerging opportunities

The research gap

Current funding models and limited local investment options impact the effectiveness and longevity of place-based strategies. Moreover, many community members lack equal opportunity to influence, invest in, or benefit from these efforts.

While there's recognition that we need to rethink resourcing and governance of place-based change in Australia, we're still developing our understanding of what is required.

Knowledge gaps

What preconditions and processes are needed to initiate, sustain, and scale community-led change over time?
What structures and ways of working are needed to ensure all community members can participate in decisions and share in benefits?
What mechanisms and expertise are needed to mobilise and govern community capital for lasting, place-based change?

Assumptions

Systemic inequities are embedded within local contexts, shaping community experiences and opportunities. These require place-based responses and offer insights into broader conditions for change.
Change requires a shift from deficit narratives to strengths-based approaches – prioritising local perspectives, leadership, and collective capabilities rather than 'problems'.
Communities are not homogeneous. 'Community-led' work doesn't automatically mean everyone can participate fairly or benefit equally. Justice-centred models must acknowledge diversity and address barriers to engagement, decision-making, and benefit distribution.
Working towards fairness is an ongoing process, not a fixed endpoint. As we centre marginal experiences, new margins emerge. This requires continuously reassessing and adapting how we work.
Community capital extends beyond financial assets to include natural resources, cultural heritage, social networks, human capabilities, and physical infrastructure. For First Nations peoples, this includes customary laws (Lore) and practices acknowledging deep connections to ancestral lands and beings.
Current structures often don't support genuine community custodianship of assets and locally-led development. Local financial structures offer potential to reshape power dynamics, centre community voices in decision-making, and align investments with local priorities.
Existing frameworks often reinforce barriers to community-centred capital and locally-led development. Policy innovation is needed to support community ownership, enhance local decision-making power, and facilitate growth of community-led solutions.
Effective change requires coordination across communities, First Nations groups, business, philanthropy, financial services, and government. This is essential for developing necessary structures, conditions, and capabilities.
The energy transition and demand for critical minerals present an opportunity to develop community-centred investment models in resource-rich regions – a unique moment to reshape engagement, benefit-sharing, and governance in the resources sector.

My PhD research at a glance

My PhD research examines how community governance of local capital can support fair, broadly shared, and lasting progress in Australia.

This PhD research project is conducted through Flinders University's Centre for Social Impact.

Australia is experiencing significant changes across its economic, political, social, and environmental systems. These changes affect communities differently and often unequally. While place-based approaches are gaining momentum, existing funding models and limited local investment opportunities can restrict their impact. Many community members remain without equal access to influence or benefit from these efforts.
The ongoing energy transition and rising demand for critical minerals highlight the need for strong place-based strategies, particularly in resource-rich regions. These shifts create opportunities to develop community-centred governance and investment models that reshape how communities engage with and benefit from both the resources sector and community development.
This PhD research project investigates how local governance of capital can deliver broad community benefits and sustain place-based work. Specifically, my research examines regions undergoing energy and mining transitions, exploring how governance and investment models that ensure fair participation and benefit-sharing can help build community wealth and long-term wellbeing.
How can a community-centred approach – emphasising fair representation and participation – support broadly shared progress and lasting place-based change in Australia?
This applied research project has two primary objectives:
1. Explore how collaborative governance structures and processes can strengthen community voice and advance fair participation and benefit-sharing.
2. Analyse how community-controlled capital and financial structures can redistribute power and support the longevity of place-based change.
To achieve these objectives, the project will investigate:
Context and power dynamics
- Unpack how Australia's unique contexts shape community-led change efforts
- Examine how current local governance structures might maintain, worsen, or create new forms of unfairness
- Listen to diverse perspectives on power, justice, and fair participation to identify enablers of broad engagement
Energy and resource transitions
- Map emerging opportunities and challenges in Australia's energy transition landscape
- Investigate how transition policies and investment frameworks impact local communities
- Explore models for community participation in renewable energy and critical minerals development
Governance models
- Explore how Western, bioregional, and cultural governance models can strengthen community-led change
- Identify conditions, structures, and processes that elevate local leadership and decision-making
- Analyse the relationship between community agency and local financial structures
Financial independence and longevity
- Investigate how community-controlled finances can redistribute power in place-based change
- Examine how financial independence strengthens the longevity of community-led work
- Explore policy mechanisms that support community investment in transition opportunities
This research addresses gaps in both theory and practice of community-led change in Australia. The project:
- Bridges multiple disciplines including social geography, anthropology, social psychology, governance studies, social innovation, and social economy theory
- Draws on practice frameworks and diverse knowledge systems
- Brings together perspectives from communities, industry, government, philanthropy, and civil society
It comes at a pivotal moment as communities seek greater control over local assets and development, including in regions experiencing significant transitions.
Expected outcomes include:
- An evidence-based framework for community-centred governance and capital models
- Practical tools for implementing community-led decision-making and benefit-sharing
- Policy recommendations to strengthen community-owned structures, including legislative reforms
- New insights into power redistribution through community-controlled financial structures
- Documentation of diverse perspectives on fair participation in community-governed work
The findings will benefit policymakers, community leaders, practitioners, and organisations across public, private, and philanthropic sectors at local, regional, and national levels, particularly those working towards fairer and more lasting community outcomes.
I'm Kate Williams, a practitioner and PhD student focused on community-centred change. I'm a white, cis-gendered woman of Hungarian/Yugoslavian (Croatian) and Welsh/Scottish ancestry. I use she/her pronouns.
I was born on Tandanya, the unceded lands of the Kaurna people (Adelaide, South Australia), and now live on Kenbi, Larrakia (Gulumerridjin) Country at Wagait Beach, Northern Territory.
Australia's history is characterised by systemic inequities and colonial structures that continue to shape our policies and practices. As a white, non-Indigenous researcher, I acknowledge my privileged position and the responsibility this carries in my work.
Western research methods have historically been instruments of colonisation. Today, researchers are increasingly embracing transformative and Indigenist methodologies that challenge traditional academic ways of working. This evolution towards more culturally responsive methodologies fundamentally shapes my research.
My research examines communities and regions at the forefront of Australia's energy transition. The growing demand for critical minerals and renewable energy creates opportunities to develop community-centred investment models in resource-rich regions, reshaping engagement, benefit-sharing, and governance in the resources sector. Recognising historical injustices in resource extraction and land rights, this research aims to centre local voices and knowledge systems, drawing on both past experiences and emerging innovations to support just transitions.
Guided by principles of reciprocity and relational accountability, this research involves extended engagement with place and people as active participants in knowledge creation. Through sustained presence and practice alongside community members as co-inquirers, the research design prioritises deep understanding over breadth of comparison.
This study takes a pluralistic research approach – drawing on multiple methodologies and knowledge systems. It is guided by a transformative paradigm, which centres fairness and social change, while actively engaging with and learning from Indigenous research paradigms.
The methodology involves:
Research design
- Qualitative methodology emphasising participatory action learning and action research
- Single case-study enabling deep engagement and co-inquiry
- Extended time in place to support contextual learning and meaningful collaboration
Methodological principles
- Prioritising local voices, processes, and governance structures
- Commitment to co-learning and co-creation of knowledge
- Recognition of multiple ways of knowing and knowledge systems
- Emphasis on place-based understanding and relational accountability
Knowledge and relationality
- Learning from and respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems, particularly understandings of Country and cultural governance
- Understanding relationships through diverse cultural perspectives and worldviews
- Acknowledging connections between human and more-than-human worlds
- Grounding research in local context and lived experience
Note: I am currently on intermission from my PhD due to personal circumstances. The timelines below will be adjusted accordingly. This research remains a long-term commitment.
Phase One: Discovery and relationship building (Nov 2023 - Nov 2025)
A focused discovery process, establishing relationships and partnerships to gather insights and clarify enablers, barriers, and priorities across the field, including:
- Literature review
- Semi-structured interviews and focus groups
- Building relationships and partnerships
Phase Two: Co-inquiry and co-development (Dec 2025 - Oct 2029)
Based on Phase One findings, this phase focuses on a local research partnership to support the co-development and incubation of community-centred governance and capital models, including:
- Establishment of local research site and partnerships
- Co-development of community-governed capital models and frameworks
- Testing and refinement through practical application
Recognising that fair participation is inherently context-specific, Phase Two involves extended engagement with a single place. By invitation, I hope to spend four years living and working alongside community members as co-inquirers. This enables deep collaborative analysis and ensures community experiences and perspectives inform all aspects of the research.
This project aims to establish a governance model that brings together diverse groups in a cross-sectoral partnership focused on shared inquiry and learning.
A Governance Group would bring together leaders from Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, community groups, industry, finance, philanthropy, government, and academia to ensure the research balances academic rigour with real-world impact.
The establishment of the Governance Group will occur in two phases:
Phase One: Scoping and relationship building (Nov 2023 - Nov 2025):
- Identify potential partners across sectors
- Build relationships and trust with prospective partners
- Align interests and expectations with research project
Phase Two: Formal cross-sectoral learning partnership (Dec 2025 - Oct 2029)
- Facilitate a formal process to establish clear expectations, shared values, and mutual benefits
- Formalise governance structures and decision-making processes
This doctoral research project benefits from cross-sectoral supervision combining academic and industry expertise:
Academic supervisors:
- Principal Supervisor: Dr Selina Tually, Deputy Director, Centre for Social Impact, Flinders University
- Associate Supervisor: Dr Ian Goodwin-Smith, Director, Centre for Social Impact, Flinders University
Industry supervisors*:
- Meaghan Burkett, Executive Director and Place Based Capital Lead, Ethical Fields
- Mark Yettica-Paulson, Chief, Super Native Unlimited; Deep Collaboration Practice Lead, Collaboration for Impact
- Chris Rowlands, Global Technical Lead, Regional Economic Development, Rio Tinto
*Industry advisors represent personal professional relationships built on mutual interest in learning, separate from formal industry agreements.

An invitation

I'm currently in the early stages of building relationships and scoping potential partnerships. If you'd like to learn more about the project or discuss future involvement, please get in touch to set up a time for a virtual or in-person cuppa!

Credit and acknowledgement

My research focus, including the field insights presented, has been shaped by numerous conversations and years of field experience working in economic inclusion and community-strengthening.

Field insights were based on conversation transcripts (OtterAi), discussion notes, academic articles, grey literature, and my own observation notes and analysis.
Analysis of discussion notes and transcripts by AI – Anthropic's Claude

Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to the many individuals and organisations who have contributed their knowledge, perspectives, and support over the years which has enabled me to get to this time-point. The views expressed in this research are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the individuals and organisations mentioned below.

Selina Tually and Ian Goodwin-Smith, for your patience, guidance, and supporting me to step into the world of academia.
Meaghan Burkett, Mark Yettica-Paulson, and Chris Rowlands who have provided invaluable insights into the practical applications and real-world implications of my research.
The team driving the work of the Place Based Capital Program, including Meaghan Burkett, Kate Simpson, Samantha Doove, Gareth Priday, Shane Arthurson and Jenny Saveera. Their work on community wealth-building and place-based capital solutions has been instrumental in my thinking and has also sharpened my research interests. My research is inspired by and builds on the work of the Place Based Capital program. Thank you for your generosity and mentorship.
Those who have generously shared their time and insights over virtual and in-person cuppas, helping me clarify my thinking. This non-exhaustive list includes (in no particular order): Niall Fay, Olivia Naughtin, Jock Noble, Sue Gilbey, Cari Taylor, Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, Kim Doohan, Bree Katsamangos, Chris Rowlands, Kirsten Smith, Andy Yeates, Liz Storr, Vic Thom, Teresa Hutchins, Donna Moodie, Howard Pederson, Peter Yu, Cindy Reese Mitchell, Ian Bird, Ben Smith, Sarah Wright, Alison Harwood, Juli Coffin, Eula Rohan, Sharon Fraser, Peter Saunders, Ariella Helfgott, Alex Hannant, Cheryl-Godwell Pepper, Lisa Ryan, Luke Craven, Kerry Graham, Lee-Anne Buckskin, and Jake Dunagan.
For their mentorship on cultural governance and how to do things 'right way.' This non-exhaustive list includes Yisah Bin Omar, Pat Mamanjun Torres, Susan Murphy, Sonia Tait, Leena Buckle, Diana Larkin, Uja Sebastian, Steven Nulgit, Wayne Barker, Sandy Moore, Robyn Wells, Patricia Juboy, Natasha Short, Anne Poelina, Tina Watson, Lachie Carracher, Trent Harewa, Geoff Harewa, Wendy Albert, Marion Bear, Nat Davey, Jenni Gould, and many others who have shared their wisdom and experiences. I appreciate the cups of tea, Toyota Therapy, and the occasional 'growling.' You gifted me the education of a lifetime.
Kit, who has become my bedrock. He always listens, even when he's not quite sure what I'm rabbiting on about. He consistently seeks to understand my perspectives while gently challenging them. I'm grateful for the way he regularly brings me back from the abstract to the practical and applicable, grounding my ideas in what is important.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my parents.
My Mum, Mary-Ann, who, true to her Eastern European sensibilities, has a personal commitment to keeping me well-fed (whether I need it or not) and caring for those around her. She taught me the value of genuinely listening to people and hearing their story, and imparted her curiosity, creativity, and courage to pursue unlikely, untenable ideas.
My Dad, Brian, my lifelong intellectual companion. As my original thought partner and most trusted critical friend, he has shaped my analytical thinking and perseverance. I am grateful for his wisdom, including the sage advice to "eat the elephant bit by bit" and, my personal favourite, to "never bullshit a bullshitter."

"If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

— Lilla Watson

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