Acknowledgement of Country I grew up on Guringai Country before moving overseas to return many years later to live, work and raise with my husband our children on Larrakia Country. I acknowledge and respect the traditional owners and Elders of Larrakia Country. I also extend my respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – the First Nations people of this country who never ceded their sovereignty. I truly appreciate the life I have in Australia though I acknowledge my ancestors were never invited to make their home here. I carry a deep unease that I am a descendent of either convicts or free settlers (most likely the former) who played a part in the colonisation of First Nations Countries. I am deeply sorry for this.

Being curious is a critical part of being a policy officer and our number one curiosity tool is asking questions. Asking questions however can be daunting. We may be afraid to expose what we don’t know, maybe we don’t know who to ask or we know who they are though don’t know how to access them. We may have been brought up understanding it was impolite to ask questions. Or perhaps we think we know everything there is to know about a policy; trust me, we don’t. Bottom line - we can’t afford to not ask questions.