Keynote address: Billabongs of Knowledge: Cultural Safety in Trauma Informed Practice from a First Nations Perspective
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| Thursday, October 29, 2026 |
| 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM |
| Plaza Ballroom, Plaza Level |
Overview
Kelleigh Ryan, Director and Consulting Psychologist for The Seedling Group & Dr Nicole Tujague, Senior Lecturer at Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, The Seedlings Group
Speaker
Kelleigh Ryan
Director and Consulting Psychologist for The Seedling Group
The Seedling Group
Billabongs of Knowledge: Cultural Safety in Trauma Informed Practice from a First Nations Perspective
9:10 AM - 10:00 AMAbstract
Kelleigh Ryan and Dr Nicole Tujague are descendants of the Kabi Kabi People of Southeast Queensland and South Sea Islander people of Gaua Island, Vanuatu.
Co-Founders of The Seedling Group Organisation and Co-author of Billabongs of Knowledge: Cultural Safety in Trauma Informed Practice from a First Nations Perspective
This keynote deepens educators’ understanding of trauma from a First Nations perspective, recognising the ongoing impacts of colonisation alongside the strength of cultural identity and connection to the domains of Indigenous Social Emotional Wellbeing. It explores types of traumas, with particular attention to racial trauma and how it shapes student safety, belonging, and engagement in education. Drawing on lived and practice based wisdom, the session highlights culturally safe approaches to sharing knowledge and building respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners and communities. Educators will also examine vicarious trauma and self care, emphasising reflective practice and collective wellbeing as essential to sustainable work. The keynote concludes by centring culture and healing, illustrating how cultural practices, story, and kinship systems foster resilience and create conditions for transformative learning. Participants will leave with practical, culturally grounded strategies that strengthen trauma informed practice and enhance cultural safety for all students.
Co-Founders of The Seedling Group Organisation and Co-author of Billabongs of Knowledge: Cultural Safety in Trauma Informed Practice from a First Nations Perspective
This keynote deepens educators’ understanding of trauma from a First Nations perspective, recognising the ongoing impacts of colonisation alongside the strength of cultural identity and connection to the domains of Indigenous Social Emotional Wellbeing. It explores types of traumas, with particular attention to racial trauma and how it shapes student safety, belonging, and engagement in education. Drawing on lived and practice based wisdom, the session highlights culturally safe approaches to sharing knowledge and building respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners and communities. Educators will also examine vicarious trauma and self care, emphasising reflective practice and collective wellbeing as essential to sustainable work. The keynote concludes by centring culture and healing, illustrating how cultural practices, story, and kinship systems foster resilience and create conditions for transformative learning. Participants will leave with practical, culturally grounded strategies that strengthen trauma informed practice and enhance cultural safety for all students.
Biography
Kelleigh Ryan is a descendant of the Kabi Kabi people of South-East Queensland and the Australian South Sea Islanders on her mother’s side. Kelleigh is a AHPRA registered psychologist with a private practice in Brisbane, working with Indigenous and non-Indigenous clients healing from Trauma. Her passion lies in finding solutions that work for healing from trauma, across cultures, lifespans and environments. Kelleigh is co-founder and owner of The Seedling Group, a 100% Indigenous owned company providing psychological consultancy, evaluation and Culturally Safe Trauma Informed Practice Training for healing, with organisations, communities and individuals.
Kelleigh is the co-founder and Director of The Seedling Collective, an Indigenous owned and operated Employee Assistance Provider with a trauma informed approach to supporting Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers through counselling and supervision across Australia.
In 2015, Kelleigh was appointed a position on the Aboriginal Clinical Governance Advisory Committee Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) 2015 of New South Wales. She is proud to be the first Aboriginal Psychologist appointed as a Clinical Assessor on the Psychologist Panel of Assessors for the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in (2015-2020). Since 2016 Kelleigh has had the privileged to be co-convenor of the APS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Psychology Interest Group.
In 2019 Kelleigh was honoured with the Indigenous Allied Health Australia’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” and in 2021 Kelleigh was awarded the membership of Fellow to the Australian Psychological Society (APS) for her work in strengthen the field of psychology and the APS through her expertise and contributions to research, practice and policy.
In 2023 Kelleigh co-authored the book Cultural Safety in Trauma-Informed Practice from a First Nations Perspective: Billabongs of Knowledge. Palgrave Macmillan.
In 2023 Kelleigh received recognition for her work through nomination to the position of Industry Fellow in the Faculty of CI, Education & Social Justice, Centre for Justice, at the Queensland University of Technology QUT.
Kelleigh held the position of Co-Vice Chair on the Australian Indigenous Psychologist Association Board (AIPA) for two terms and now serves on the AIPA Board.
Dr Nicole Tujague
Senior Lecturer at Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples
The Seedling Group
Co-presenter
Biography
Dr Nicole Tujague is a descendant of the Kabi Kabi People of Southeast Queensland and South Sea Islander people of Gaua Island, Vanuatu. Raised across several Queensland Aboriginal communities, she has worked extensively with Indigenous families nationwide. Dr Tujague specialises in co-design, culturally safe Indigenous-led evaluation, and trauma-informed practice, delivering training across sectors since 2010. Her PhD explored what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples value when evaluating programs affecting their lives.
She is the co-author of Billabongs of Knowledge and serves on the Board of the Australian Evaluation Society and as Associate Editor of the Evaluation Journal of Australasia.
