Overview
Cape York Institute for Policy & Leadership (CYIPL) is Australia’s leading Indigenous think tank. Since its establishment in 2004, we have worked with our communities to develop out-of-the-box reforms that build people’s capability so they can choose a life they have reason to value.
We work from policy ideation right through to community implementation on initiatives that reinstate personal responsibility. We provide the opportunities and services necessary for First Nations people to gain the capability to change their lives for the better.
The Institute’s policy agenda – Pama Futures – is developed in collaboration with the Indigenous people of Cape York so our policies and innovations reflect the people’s intent and lived experience.
Why it Matters
For over two hundred years, policies and programs affecting Indigenous people have overwhelmingly been designed and passively delivered by those who lack the lived experience necessary to devise solutions that work.
CYIPL is turning this approach on its head. We work for and alongside the people of Cape York to co-design solutions that empower Indigenous people – putting power back in their hands.
Our unique approach to policy development has allowed us to develop ideas that are both locally effective and nationally significant.
What we are Doing
Cape York Institute for Policy & Leadership has five domains – Policy, Innovation, Leadership, Language and Local Partnerships – that work together to design reforms, policies and products that make a real difference to the lives of those living in Cape York and beyond.
Our Policy and Innovation team pushes for systemic reforms led by Indigenous voices. The Leadership Academy equips Change Makers with the skills to drive transformation. Pama Language Centre preserves and revitalises Indigenous languages. Pama Futures enables champions and Change Makers from across Cape York to drive reforms and influence government with a seat at the decision-making table.
The personal responsibility and opportunity (PRO) agenda
The Persoal Responsibility and Opportunity (PRO) Agenda represents the next chapter in the long-standing Cape York Agenda—our original blueprint set by our old people in the late 1980s and 1990s, which remains unchanged in its vision of reclaiming responsibility, restoring social norms and securing real opportunity for our people in contemporary Australia.
The PRO Agenda now carries this work forward by seeking to hardwire responsibility and guaranteed opportunity into legislation through the proposed PRO Act. Central to this model is the recognition that education—particularly Year 12 completion—is the strongest driver of improved employment, income, health and justice outcomes. Drawing on decades of experience in Cape York, we now better understand the dynamics of intergenerational poverty and why Closing the Gap efforts have struggled to deliver sustained change.
Contact information
If you are interested in the work of Cape York Institute and would like to know more about our projects, please contact us via email.
Stories & Updates
