Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Nathan McIvor's message to the First Nations Housing and Homelessness Forum held on Kaurna Country this week was clear: self-determination is the way forward.

Djarindjin is a community on the lands of the Bardi and Jawi, the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia's Kimberley region.

Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years, growing its staff and its independently earned revenue to the point where it is 90 per cent self-funded and providing a range of services to its people, and visitors.

On Wednesday, day two of the event, Mr McIvor told the Forum that a "revolution" in thinking is needed – and a rejection of "closing the gap".

"This phrase has become the most unified and successful marketing slogan for failure in Australian public policy. For nearly 20 years, governments have promised to close the gap, have spent billions of dollars trying to close the gap, and have held countless conferences about closing the gap. And what do we have to show for it? The gap. It's still there and guess what; it's getting wider," he said.

"We must never forget that for 60,000 years, Aboriginal people walked this country and prospered. They are the world's oldest continuous civilisation, with the most sustainable economic systems, the most sophisticated environmental management practices, and the most enduring governance structures. Aboriginal people didn't just survive, they thrived.

"This prosperity didn't happen by accident. It happened because your ancestors' understood principles that the modern world is only beginning to rediscover. They understood that true wealth comes from relationships, not just resources. They understood that sustainable development means taking only what you need and giving back more than you take. They understood that strong governance comes from cultural wisdom, not just institutional rules."

Creating our own path

Mr McIvor noted that the colonisers of Australia pushed the myth that First Nations ways were "primitive", knowledge "inferior", and "governance inadequate".

"Which economic system has proven more sustainable, the one that maintained ecological balance for 60,000 years, or the one that has brought us to the brink of environmental collapse in less than 250 years?" he asked.

"Which governance system has proven more lasting, the one that maintained social cohesion for millennia, or the one that produces political crises every few years?

"At Djarindjin, we've created our own path. We refuse to be boxed in by the system, refuse to accept that our choices are limited to welfare dependency or assimilation into someone else's idea of success. We've proven that there's another way, the Djarindjin way and it's working better than anything the government has ever offered us."

More than 40 years ago, in 1984, Djarindjin's story began when a group of Bardi and Jawi people walked out of the Lombadina Catholic Mission and established their own free community.

"They left because they were sick of being told how to live, what to believe, what language they could speak, what culture they could practice. They left because they understood something that many people still don't get today, that real self-determination isn't something you're given by governments or churches or well-meaning bureaucrats. It's something you take," Mr McIvor said.

Today, Djarindjin generates 90 per cent of their revenue from their own businesses.

Djarindjin Airport, the only 100 per cent Indigenous-owned airport in Australia and the only airport in the southern hemisphere to provide a "hot" refuelling service (helicopters can re-fuel with their engines running, saving valuable time by not needing to cool down), generated nearly $20 million in revenue in 2024. Its crew are all local indigenous men and women who have been trained in multiple skills of airport operations.

Mr McIvor said it took the WA government 40 years to formally acknowledge the community; in March 2024.

"Even now, 400 people live in Djarindjin but we don't own the land or the houses. We don't own the buildings, but we're maintaining the community with our own money. Instead of waiting for someone else to fix these problems, we created our own solutions," he told the Forum.

"We negotiated a $4.5 million loan with another airport who helped us operate ours and we paid it off in eight years from our share of the airport profits."

On February 1, 2022, Djarindjin took back complete control of the airport.

"We've developed our own software package that's been specifically designed for helicopter turnarounds… We've created technology that has the potential to be sold around the globe to helicopter companies and airports that provide these services... Technology, built by us, an Aboriginal community and organisation. That's self-determination," he said.

Djarindjin Airport won the 2024 Small Regional (non-RPT) Airport of the Year from the Australian Airports Association.

Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation also owns and operates a roadhouse and a popular camp site.

Guided by cultural integrity

Mr McIvor said one of the greatest strengths of the Djarindjin model is it is protected from political influence.

"Our governance in a white man's world is our cultural north star… we never lose sight of our cultural compass. It guides every major decision we make," he said.

"When your foundation is 60,000 years of proven wisdom rather than the latest political trend, you don't get blown around by every change in Canberra. When your legitimacy comes from your people and your culture rather than government recognition, you can't be delegitimised by political games."

This economic independence isn't just about money: It has a direct impact on health and culture.

The "Djarindjin way" is as much about wellbeing, mental health, physical health, and addressing issues like kidney disease.

"Standing on healthy cultural principles doesn't just protect us politically, it transforms our health outcomes in ways that no government health program ever could," Mr McIvor said.

"When people are connected to their culture, when they understand their place in the world, when they can see their identity reflected in their work and their community's direction, profound healing happens.

"The physical health improvements flow… from this cultural strength. When people have purpose, when they're connected to country, when they can practice their culture with pride, when they're not carrying the stress of cultural suppression or identity confusion, their bodies heal along with their spirits. That's when the cycle of disadvantage gets broken, not by government programs designed to close gaps, but by communities taking back control."

Mr McIvor noted that every Aboriginal community has cultural strengths that can become organisational strengths, traditional knowledge that can inform contemporary governance, and cultural principles that can guide economic development "in ways that mainstream business models never could".

"You have to be willing to trust those principles even when the mainstream world tells you they're not valid. You have to be willing to say no to funding that compromises your cultural integrity," he said.

"The strength that comes from this cultural integrity is different from anything you can get from external validation or government recognition. This strength shows up in negotiations, in strategic planning, in community consultation, in everything we do.

"If you stand on cultural principles, it creates a 'sovereignty mindset'. Instead of thinking like recipients of services, you begin to think like providers of solutions."

Mr McIvor said when one Aboriginal organisation demonstrates that cultural integrity and contemporary success aren't contradictory, it gives other communities permission to trust their own cultural wisdom.

"When you consistently demonstrate competence, integrity, and success based on your own principles, people stop seeing you as a problem to be solved and start seeing you as a partner to learn from," he added.

"This is how real reconciliation happens, not through governments telling us we need to close gaps to their standards, but through Aboriginal communities demonstrating that our standards, our methods, our principles produce better results than the systems that have failed us for so long."

Building healthy communities

The Djarindjin way is underpinned by the "Binimal Aambooriny, Strong People Healthy Living" strategy, a holistic framework which recognises self-determination isn't just about economics; it requires healthy, empowered people who are deeply connected to culture and country.

"The welfare mentality treats symptoms, unemployment, poor health, social problems, as if they're separate issues requiring separate government programs. Our approach treats these as interconnected challenges requiring integrated, community-controlled solutions," Mr McIvor said.

The Djarindjin aged care programs incorporate traditional knowledge holders; youth programs combine modern skills training with cultural education; and health initiatives integrate traditional healing practices with contemporary medical approaches.

"Language and culture are coming back. We now offer adult Bardi language lessons funded by our own enterprises. We're teaching our own people to speak the language that was beaten out of us during the mission years. That's what real "closing the gap" looks like, not catching up to someone else's standards, but reclaiming what was always ours," he said.

Djarindjin recently unveiled a 20-year strategic plan recently which aims to systematically addresses community priorities while building the institutional capacity necessary for sustained self-determination.

One part of the plan is the GornGornMa Djarindjin Development housing business model; a commitment to build 70 houses over 20 years through a rent-to-buy scheme, community members building equity from day one, "a pathway to full home ownership without government bureaucracy".

Djarindjin has begun the process of providing four single bedroom homes for Aboriginal workers to relieve the housing crisis in the community, with 400 people and only 44 houses.

There is also the community's renewable energy project, the Aalga Goorlil Sun Turtle Djarindjin Community Power Project, which is about sustainable power, energy sovereignty, cost reduction for community programs, and "positioning Djarindjin as leaders in the transition to clean energy".

"We've received conditional funding of $5 million to build, own and operate a 100 per cent community-owned renewable energy facility," Mr McIvor told the Forum.

The Aboriginal Corporation will soon start a freight and logistics business to ensure communities have access to fresh produce every week.

"We are not just running businesses; we are building a complete ecosystem of self-determination," he said.

Djarindjin's vision extends beyond its own community boundaries.

"We're already supporting other Indigenous communities, sharing our expertise, and demonstrating that another way is possible," Mr McIvor said.

"We're establishing formal mechanisms for sharing our knowledge with other communities, creating networks that strengthen Indigenous self-determination throughout the Kimberley and across Australia.

"The Binimal Aambooriny framework is being adapted and shared with other Indigenous communities seeking their own paths to self-determination. We're creating a network of strong, healthy communities that can support each other through challenges and celebrate successes together."

In 2024, Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation received the Indigenous Governance Award for Category Three, Outstanding examples of governance in Indigenous-led large, incorporated organisations.

Mr McIvor stressed that self-determination does not mean isolation.

"This isn't about rejecting everything from the mainstream economy, it's about engaging with it on our own terms, from positions of strength rather than positions of need," he told the Forum.

"So, here's Djarindjin's challenge to Australia, to governments, to bureaucrats, to well-meaning organisations still pushing Closing the Gap"rhetoric: Stop trying to fix us. Start learning from us.

"We need you to recognise that we've been finding our own solutions for 60,000 years, and when you get out of our way and let us determine our own futures, we excel.

"The Djarindjin model proves that Indigenous communities don't need to be problems for Australia to solve, we can be partners for Australia to learn from, work with, and celebrate."