Ralph Lahey

Experience

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  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)

  Feb 2001 - Nov 2003

  • Co-ordinated the successful divestment (returning of shared ownership) from Morr Morr Pastoral Company Pty Ltd to the Kurtijar community of Normanton, Queensland.• Initiated and guided negotiations on a homeless strategy agreement between the Gulf and West Queensland Regional Councils, local community organisations, and Commonwealth, State and local government agencies.• Undertook extensive stakeholder engagement and community liaison with the Gulf and West Queensland Regional Councils in developing a new regional plan for health, housing, education, and employment; including key performance indicators and benchmarks for community/stakeholder participation. Show less

  • Policy Manager, Policy Co-ordination and Review

    Jul 2003 - Nov 2003

  • Director of Client Services

    Feb 2001 - Jul 2003
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  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS)

  Nov 2003 - Sept 2005

  Program Manager, Housing Development

  • Liaised with internal and external stakeholders and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients about the National Aboriginal Housing Strategy, instigating performance indicators and outputs; and achieving policy goals.• Applied risk-management strategies to funding decisions for continued housing delivery, ensuring that recommendations were defensible and based on ‘commercial’ best practice.

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  UMI Arts Ltd

  Sept 2005 - Nov 2006

  Executive Officer

  • Guided an Indigenous community arts organisation from a policy concept to an operational, commercial, peak body organisation supporting the indigenous arts industry in Far North Queensland.• Mentored the Indigenous UMI Arts Board of Directors to meet public and private sector governance requirements.• Achieved a ‘deductible gift recipient’ tax status for the organisation allowing for philanthropic funding.

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  Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA)

  Nov 2006 - Sept 2007

  Program Manager, Backing Indigenous Ability Telecommunications Program

  • Managed the request for tender process for appointing a national panel of registered training organisations.• Improved the quality of e-learning and on-line communication for indigenous communities through local community engagement and user-testing.

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  Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA)

  Jul 2007 - Apr 2008

  Assistant Director, Program Operations

  • Oversaw the provision of consistent responses to National Office and State based staff on all procurement, grant and contract policy and guidelines.• Co-managed the Service Delivery Help Desk; maintaining FaHCSIA-grant administrative processes, corporate tools and templates, and consistent service delivery for all third party providers.• Developed national policy preparing third party service providers in the event of a national pandemic influenza.

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  Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations

  Apr 2008 - Sept 2012

  • Engaged with health workforce stakeholders fostering collaborative working with the Indigenous Employment Program to identify priority program areas and effectively implement and evaluate employment strategies.• Liaised with different program areas across the Department to identify shared program objectives and associated funding sources, and secured additional funding via submissions and business cases.• Developed, implemented, evaluated and revised key strategic Indigenous housing initiatives in remote Australian communities (including managing relationships with community, education, government, non-government and corporate stakeholders), resulting in significant elements of the program I developed being subsequently converted into legislation and implemented nationally. Show less • Established the new Evidence Base team, of three, which created a better understanding of the data profile of Indigenous Australians by undertaking and consolidating data and evidence analysis on education and employment policies, programs and services, including ‘closing the gap’ targets, and feeding this analysis into policy development and reporting.• Analysed the impact, effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness of employment programs and initiatives, and provided advice on evaluation techniques.• Designed, developed and implemented quantitative and qualitative research projects, and managed external research consultancies commissioned to evaluate employment programs and related initiatives. Show less

  • Assistant Director, Group Support, Indigenous Economic Strategy

    Nov 2011 - Sept 2012

  • Assistant Director, Partnerships and Innovation, Indigenous Economic Strategy

    Jul 2010 - Nov 2011

  • Interim Director, Evidence Base, Indigenous Economic Strategy

    Mar 2010 - Jul 2010

  • Assistant Director, Indigenous Economic Strategy

    Oct 2009 - Mar 2010

  • Assistant Director, Literacy and Numeracy Taskforce, Indigenous Education

    Jun 2008 - Oct 2009

  • Assistant Director, New Child Care Services, Office of Early Childhood Education and Child Care

    Apr 2008 - Jun 2008
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  Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

  May 2013 - May 2014

  Assistant Director

  Development of employment policy and programme administration to meet the expectations of the Governments 'Closing the Gap' targets for Indigenous Australians.

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  Ralph Lahey Consulting Services

  Jun 2014 - Jul 2014

  Lead Consultant

  Ralph Lahey Consulting works with a number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous associate consultants providing services to government agencies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community organisations.

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  Marist Youth Care

  Aug 2014 - Feb 2015

  VTEC Co-ordinator

  The new Vocational Training Employment Centre (VTEC) at Blacktown, Sydney, is part of the national Federal Government VTEC network. It is a unique employment program that is employer led and provides pre employment 'job ready' skills and post place mentoring support. I manage five Indigenous staff and my primary role is to engage with strategic partners and source the supply of employment opportunities for our VTEC job seekers. I also have overall responsibility for VTEC program case management and program performance reporting. Show less

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  CatholicCare Social Services (Parramatta)

  Mar 2015 - Aug 2015

  Manager - Aboriginal Services

  I have responsibility for management of all programs delivered from the Aboriginal Catholic Services - Resource Centre. I supervise eight staff and provide performance reports and manage all social program service delivery

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  Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association Ltd

  Aug 2015 - Jun 2016

  Policy Officer

  Undertake high level analysis, provide sound advice, and develop policies in relation to health, wellbeing and education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Effectively liaise, negotiate and influence a range of stakeholders in government, non-government and corporate sectors.

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  Public Sector

  Oct 2015 - Feb 2016

  Grant Assessor

  Undertaking assessments of grant applications.

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  Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre Ltd

  Jul 2016 - Jul 2016

  General Manager

  Responsibility for AILC human and financial resources and program reporting; including:• Management of enrolments within student database;• Monitoring and review of tender projects;• Vet Sector training costings and proposals;• Generation of certificates;• Compliance with AVETMISS and ASQA guidelines; and• Daily contact with trainers and contract documentation.

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  Alvina Consulting Pty Ltd

  Aug 2016 - Oct 2016

  Senior Managing Director

  Delivering consultancy services; community capacity building and training/assessment across Australia.

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  Australian Government Department of Education and Training

  Jan 2017 - Mar 2017

  Project Officer

  Policy and Program activities with the VET Student Loans Task Force

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  Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

  Feb 2017 - Jul 2020

  Adviser
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  Department of Social Services (DSS)

  Jul 2017 - Jul 2020

  Project Officer

  Managing various consultancies underpinning the SESA-SWS Wage Tool for people with a disability.

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  National Disability Insurance Agency

  Dec 2017 - Jul 2020

  Project Officer
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  John Holland

  Jan 2018 - Jul 2020

  Social Procurement - Senior Advisor

  Confirm supply chain opportunities for social enterprises and Aboriginal businesses; Identify social enterprises and Aboriginal businesses that have potential to provide goods and services to the West Gate Tunnel Project; Ensure relevant social enterprises and Aboriginal businesses are included in invitations to tender; Assist in the evaluation of relevant tenders; Assess requirements to build capacity of social enterprises during delivery and monitor the project team's acceptance of quality/performance of supply and assist in any feedback of performance management; and support West Gate Tunnel Project sub-contractors to identify and meet with suitable social enterprises and Aboriginal businesses. Show less

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  Neoen

  Jul 2020 - Jan 2021

  Lead Consultant

   Extensive community engagement and experience in relation to the implementation and operationalisation of social inclusion strategies to deliver high quality outcomes. Ability to practice collegiate behaviour and lead a diverse range of people in an equitable, participative, and consultative manner to achieve organisational outcomes.  Proven ability to communicate with influence, both verbally and in the written form. An enthusiastic Aboriginal leader with a positive can-do attitude, who is excited by social inclusion challenges and opportunities. Proven experience in providing specialist knowledge and expertise to address complex problems and build business to business client capability. Business to business acumen, including extensive knowledge and experience in organisational change, transformation projects and risk management. Stakeholder management; both internally, including all levels of an organisation, and externally, managing key partner, vendor and customer relationships. Demonstrated experience working with a high degree of responsibility, self-management, and integrity within a complex environment. Manage ‘end to end’ projects; from planning through execution to completion within fast-paced, time sensitive environments. Practical experience in providing expert tendering, contracting and procurement advice; assisting businesses and projects to meet requirements of the Queensland Local Content Charter - Ethical Supplier Threshold legislation.  Define appropriate procurement strategies, including breakdown into individual works packages, supply chain optimisation and strategy, vendor assessment, identification of potential subcontractors, procurement methods and timing. Experience in budget management and financial reporting; change management and risk management strategies. Show less

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  Queensland Government

  Aug 2021 - Sept 2022

  Indigenous Tourism Business Development Officer

  Support Indigenous Tourism small businesses

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  National Indigenous Australians Agency

  Mar 2023 - now

  • Policy Officer

    Feb 2023 - now

  • Policy Officer

    Feb 2023 - May 2023

  • Policy Advisor

    Mar 2023 - Mar 2023
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  Alvina Consultancy Services Pty Ltd

  May 2023 - May 2023

  Senior Consultant