Andrea Kelly Anthony Creek For many Indigenous Australians, working in the public sector is an opportunity to make a difference for Indigenous communities and to Australian society generally. It is a way to impact on policies, practices and perspectives.  It is a chance to influence workplace cultures and to be part of cultural change. The Australian Public Service (APS) values the perspectives, experiences and contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people bring to the workplace.  More culturally diverse agencies better reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian public, whom the public service serves.  A culturally diverse workplace provides a diversity of insights and approaches to an organisation's business.  Having more Indigenous employees helps to expand cross-cultural interaction, knowledge and awareness of non-Indigenous employees.    The presentation will focus on personal stories and experiences of being an Indigenous Australian working in the APS.  How does the APS value its Indigenous employees?  Are Indigenous voices really heard?   What support structures and opportunities exist for Indigenous employees?  How has appreciation of the value of cultural diversity evolved over recent years? How are Indigenous employees assuming their cultural space within the APS? Anthony Creek Anthony is the Team Leader of the Change of Assessment (special circumstances) Team in the Child Support Agency, Townsville. He began working as a Teachers Aide in the Queensland Education Department before joining the Child Support Agency in 1999. Since then he has worked in many technical and developmental roles supporting the improvement of organisational capability through training coaching and buddying. Developing others has been a common element throughout his employment and his abilities are reflected in his own career development and increasing responsibilities in these areas. Anthony thrives on the opportunity to meet new challenges and supporting people in dealing with Change. He is a motivator and mentor to others and works to assist people to unlock their potential and accomplish great achievements. He sees his greatest achievement (besides recently becoming a father) as the leading of a team of 6 across the Kokoda track. Andrea Kelly Born and raised in Alice Springs , Andrea is the second youngest of nine children and her family extends across the NT and interstate. She has enjoyed 16 and a half diverse years in the APS living in Alice Springs, Canberra and Darwin where she is now located and has lived with her husband for the past 6 years. She began her career at the Central Land Council in Alice Springs working in the registry until she was promoted to the accounts team. She was then successful in gaining the position of Regional Administration Officer with Aboriginal Hostels Limited.  In 1997, Andrea moved to Canberra for a year where she worked in policy and research.  On her return to Alice Springs , she was promoted to the position of Regional Manager and was responsible for all hostels and the aged care facilities in the Central Australian Region. In 2001 she became manager the Casuarina Centrelink Customer Service Centre before winning a position with the Department of Family and Community Services (now FaCSIA), initially doing policy work before moving into service delivery, managing a broad range community services programs.  In 2004 she was promoted to the Section Manager position where she has the overall responsibility for program delivery of family, community Services and children programs across the NT with a dedicated team of approximately 20 staff.