Our Program Pillars

Guided by foundational principles such as Culture First, For Community By Community, Action-Oriented and Evolutionary, and Building and Transferring Capability, Spinifex has identified key Program Pillars to translate its purpose into action.

These pillars reflect the aspirations and lived experience of Community, and will shape the Foundation’s resourcing, partnership and support activities.

Holistic Health and Wellbeing

This pillar focuses on the emotional, social, cultural, and spiritual aspects of health and wellbeing. It moves beyond clinical and medical models to promote prevention and healing at a community level.

It is a direct expression of Spinifex Foundation SA’s commitment to Culture First and Action-Oriented values, enabling culturally-grounded, preventive approaches that prioritise lived experience and cultural strength.

  • Address mental health challenges connected to intergenerational trauma and general trauma healing
  • Support culturally safe, trauma-informed responses that foster healing
  • Resource family-based healing and wellbeing approaches, led and informed by Community
  • Fund initiatives that government programs typically avoid or are constrained from supporting
  • Invest in the “connective tissue” of wellbeing work for relationships, trust, continuity, and cultural leadership
  • Support programs that create the conditions for Aboriginal people to thrive and feel well – Spiritually, emotionally, culturally and socially

Connected Communities: Community Gathering and Connection

This pillar strengthens the social fabric of Aboriginal communities by resourcing spaces, activities, and opportunities for cultural connection, celebration, and shared experience.

Through this pillar, Spinifex Foundation SA advances its For Community By Community and Culture First principles, creating inclusive and culturally safe environments that honour tradition and innovation.

  • Create spaces and opportunities for Aboriginal people to gather, connect, and engage in cultural activities
  • Support intergenerational sharing of cultural knowledge, stories, and practices
  • Fostering equality so that no one group has more say than any other, and holding space for quieter voices
  • Promote cultural awareness and respect, especially among youth, by ensuring accessible and inclusive cultural spaces
  • Capture and archive stories of people, Country and culture for future generations

Building Community Capability and Experiences

Self-determination is not only a goal, it is a process. This pillar supports communities to grow the skills, confidence, and opportunities to lead the design, implementation and governance of programs and projects.

This pillar reflects Spinifex Foundation SA’s principle of Building and Transferring Capability, empowering community to see themselves not only as beneficiaries but as drivers of change.

  • Provide pathways for communities to participate in, lead, and shape local and regional initiatives
  • Build culturally informed governance and leadership skills
  • Support program design and implementation training aligned with Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing
  • Strengthen existing capacities and community assets, rather than impose external models

Strengthening Community Voices

This pillar is about advocacy, visibility and action. It is grounded in the understanding that Aboriginal communities hold the solutions – they need support to be heard, respected and resourced.

Aligned with Spinifex Foundation SA’s principles of Action-Oriented and Evolutionary practice, this pillar amplifies community voice while challenging systems that limit or restrict Aboriginal-led change.

  • Support advocacy for community-led progress in housing, education, employment, child protection, and economic development
  • Address systemic challenges such as poverty, overcrowded housing, and lack of follow-up care
  • Promote models of post-care support and ongoing community-centred solutions
  • Provide infrastructure and tools for communities to speak directly to decision-makers

Practice and Collaboration

Knowledge grows in relationships. This pillar funds spaces where learning, sharing, and collaborative action can take place between communities, ACCOs, and philanthropic and non-Aboriginal organisations. It supports the collective work that strengthens practice across the sector.

Through this pillar, Spinifex Foundation SA positions itself not only as a funder, but as a connector or facilitator, embodying its commitment to being evolutionary and holding space for many forms of knowledge and leadership.

  • Provide pathways for communities to participate in, lead, and shape local and regional initiatives
  • Build culturally informed governance and leadership skills
  • Support program design and implementation training aligned with Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing
  • Strengthen existing capacities and community assets, rather than impose external models