Aboriginal Organisation
Professor Jack Beetson - Community Resources Board Director
GOAL ONE
Aboriginal Organisation: Aboriginal Leadership, Governance & Accountability
In FY26, Community Resources reached one of the most significant goals we’ve been working towards - becoming an Aboriginal-led organisation. This milestone reflects our history, our purpose and a long-term commitment to returning to our roots.
By embedding Aboriginal ways of being and working, we strengthen our connection to Country and ensure our services are shaped by the communities we support, creating outcomes that are more relevant, culturally safe and responsive to local needs.
Becoming Aboriginal-led is not the end of a journey. It’s a responsibility. As we move into our next strategic period, we remain focused on strengthening Aboriginal leadership and ensuring culture, community and Country remain at the centre of our work and future direction.
Board Director Profile: Professor Jack Beetson
A proud Ngemba man, Jack Beetson joined the Community Resources Board as Director in March 2026. For over 30 years, he has worked across Aboriginal education, literacy, community development, and human right, including his current role as Executive Director of the Literacy for Life Foundation.
We sat down with Jack Beetson to have a yarn about Aboriginal leadership, the importance of giving back, storytelling and the importance of Country.
He says people have often asked, ‘How did you get to where you are now’? He tells us the abbreviated story:
“I was kicked out of school when I was 13, I come from a very small town in western New South Wales; a town called Ningan. I left that town when I was about 14 as a political refugee. I went back to school when I was about 27 to an Aboriginal College in Glebe. And as part of my work there, I got involved in human rights, I got involved in international politics and so on.”
For Jack, joining the Community Resources Board was a natural fit. He saw a strong connection between the work of the Literacy for Life Foundation and our commitment to creating opportunities for people who face barriers to employment.
He says what stands out most is the care shown to people:
“You can see around here people care, and they care a lot about people’s safety. Caring is a big thing for me because if you don’t care, not much changes. I do think it’s an organisation that cares. So, it wasn’t a hard decision to join the Board.”
In terms of his leadership style, Jack says:
“I’m not big on leaders as individual things. To be part of any leadership group, you’ve got to have people who want to support your ideas in the first place. Otherwise, you’ve got no one to lead. You don’t want to be leading from the front. It’s always about pushing other people forward.”
Jack’s perspective is deeply shaped by Country.
“Country’s everything. My dad’s Country, my mum’s Country, I belong to it. I don’t own it. I actually belong to it. Whenever I get on the Country that I belong to, the first thing I do is get out of the car and rub the dirt on myself. I get rejuvenated every time I even talk about it. It’s an emotional thing, you know; that’s my attachment.”
Along with connection to Country and community, Jack sees storytelling as an important part of what it means to be an Aboriginal-led organisation:
“I think it’s critically important that we maintain that role of storytelling because that’s who Aboriginal people are. So, the organisation has to be a storyteller. I say to my kids, you know, don’t paint me a picture; paint me a story.”
Looking ahead, Jack sees enormous opportunity for Community Resources to continue building on four decades of creating jobs, strengthening communities and caring for Country.
“What we know is there’s a good thing here. There’s a good thing happening here. Forty years is a long time in social enterprise. But to have multiple social enterprises under the one banner? Wow, what an achievement. Who wouldn’t want to be part of it, put it that way.”
“People want to be part of successful things. That’s where our partners come in.”
“I think for me, the most important thing – and this is how I live my life – is you’ve got to give back. And I think that’s what this organisation is doing. It’s giving back. At the end of the day, that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to give as much as we take.”
“You can see around here people care, and they care a lot about people’s safety. Caring is a big thing for me because if you don’t care, not much changes. I do think it’s an organisation that cares. So, it wasn’t a hard decision to join the Board.”
Professor Jack Beetson – Community Resources Board Director
