Episode 2, A Purposeful Edge: Leading in Uncertainty
When heritage is treated as expendable and inclusion is seen as optional, leadership must stand for something more enduring.
In this episode of A Purposeful Edge: Leading in Uncertainty, Dr Peter Collins is joined by Dr Terri Janke, a Wuthathi, Yadhaigana and Meriam woman, lawyer and global expert on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property. Together they explore what true reconciliation demands from leaders today and how ‘blak excellence’ can redefine the future of Australia.
Terri doesn’t just speak about reconciliation. She embodies it.
From her early days studying law, through her work with the Australia Council and later founding her own law firm, Terri has been guided by one consistent principle: culture is not a relic of the past — it’s a foundation for justice, identity and leadership.
“This knowledge defines people. It comes from place. It has reverence. It needs to be protected, not exploited.”
She recalls how the 1992 Mabo decision restored her faith in the legal system, a turning point that helped her return to university and begin a career centred on justice for First Nations peoples. What followed was not only the creation of a successful legal firm, but a movement with her work empowering Indigenous artists, communities and knowledge-holders to assert their rights, tell their stories and reclaim their narratives.
But the road has not been without heartbreak. In 2020, the world watched as Rio Tinto destroyed Juukan Gorge, an Indigenous heritage site with 46,000 years of history. It was a legal act, but not a just one. Terri helped author the ‘Never Again’ report for the parliamentary inquiry, a contribution that exposed the deep failings of current heritage protection laws and called for a new way forward.
“You can’t get that back. When sites are destroyed, it’s not just physical — it’s spiritual, cultural and personal.”
The way forward, she argues, is not complex. It starts with walking together with genuine listening, power-sharing and an unwavering commitment to Indigenous-led solutions. This means moving beyond deficit-based language like ‘closing the gap’ and embracing frameworks that celebrate Indigenous agency, knowledge and leadership.
At the heart of Terri’s vision is the concept of blak excellence, a bold reclaiming of pride, potential and power. Not as imitation, not as assimilation, but as a self-determined pathway to cultural and economic empowerment.
“Too often our goals were set for us. Now we must set them for ourselves.”
For Terri, empowerment means more than inclusion. It means Indigenous people creating their own businesses, governing their cultural expressions and leading on the issues that affect them, not as a special category, but as rightful custodians and contributors to the nation.
It also means reshaping how the rest of Australia views success. Through the lens of black excellence, she challenges government, business and civil society to embrace Indigenous knowledge systems as a strength and not a risk. To rethink how they partner, who they listen to and what values they uphold.
“If we make it, we bring others with us. That’s what black excellence does — it doesn’t leave people behind.”
Dr Peter Collins and Terri discuss how reconciliation must go beyond symbolism. It must be lived, practiced and legislated. And it must centre Indigenous voices in parliament, policy and the boardroom. Terri’s work is a blueprint for that future, where legal empowerment is matched with cultural integrity and communities are no longer left behind but lifted up.
Listening to Terri is like walking along an ancient track, one worn smooth by centuries of wisdom and renewed by every new footstep. Her words invite us to travel forward together, not as an act of charity, but of justice. And not just for Indigenous people, but for the nation.
This is leadership that does not flinch from truth. This is leadership that moves us forward — respectfully, powerfully and with heart.
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🎧 Tune into the full conversation between Dr Peter Collins and Dr Terri Janke to explore how courageous leadership can transform reconciliation — and how cultural integrity, empowerment and black excellence can lead us to a more just future.
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