Tahlia Steadman On Championing First Nations Perspectives Through Country-Centred Architecture And Design
Tahlia Steadman is a Ngemba woman with family ties to Brewarrina in northwest New South Wales.
Growing up on the Gold Coast in southeast Queensland, far from Ngemba Country, she has always been on a journey to better connect to her culture and community, but has never shied away from sharing her pride in her Aboriginality.
Tahlia has a background in architecture and project management and now works at Blaklash, a 100% First Nations owned and operated design agency based in Magandjin / Meeanjin, Brisbane. In her role, she works to connect the design industry and First Nations communities to ensure project outcomes are led by community inputs and Country.
With experience working on a range of projects, Tahlia is interested in unpacking how projects are delivered to identify key opportunities in the process for First Nation's agency, voice and impact.
Tahlia discusses the critical role of culturally led architectural design in shaping inclusive spaces, embedding First Nations voices throughout design processes, and key opportunities for supporting emerging Indigenous leaders.
Highlights from the interview (listen to the podcast for full details)
[Indio Myles] - To start off, can you please share a bit about your background and what led you to working in impact-led design?
[Tahlia Steadman] - As a kid I always wanted to be a writer. I had an uncle who would always ask me when I was going to become an author, and that kind of never happened.
I always had a passion for storytelling but never knew what direction to take that in. When it came to choosing what to study, I settled on architecture, as it’s a mix of both my analytical and creative brains.
Through my studies, I actually fell into project management through an internship with CareerTrackers. That was sitting just off to the side of the design industry, but it taught me so much about the design and construction industries, what all the different players within the puzzle are interested in, and what they overlook by accident.
Being in that situation, I understood I didn’t have a creative outlet. I felt a little bit detached from my culture every day through my work because I was in my own little corporate bubble rather than doing the kind of community-focused, small-scale, intimate projects that I was keen to work on.
When Troy Casey, our Managing Director, and Erin McDonald, our Associate Director, reached out to me about expanding the Blaklash team, I just jumped at the chance. I knew that small business would be interesting to me, and what they were doing felt a lot more aligned with my values long term.
As a principal now at Blaklash, can you share a bit more about this organisation and how it is championing First Nations architecture and design?
It's interesting to see the evolution through the different Blaklash team members you've had on the podcast, because the business has grown and changed so much over the years, which is exciting.
We're 100% Aboriginal owned and operated. We're still based here in Magandjin/Meanjin (Brisbane), but we now also have a presence on the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, and down in Naarm (Melbourne). We continue to work across architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and public art.
We focus on country-centred design, which to us essentially means engaging with traditional custodians to hear their stories of Country and their aspirations for community. Then, we find creative ways to bring those ideas to life in the built environment, in ways that suit each unique project.
We're trying to create a safe space for mob to share their true thoughts—where they can be truly honest about things. We keep those insights front of mind when we run co-design workshops and engage with broader design teams. We always talk about how it's more about the process than the outcome.
It's not about making something look a particular way, it's about the journey you take to get there. That journey is where the real benefit lies for community.
Could you share more about your role at Blaklash and some of the projects you're involved in?
We work on projects ranging from strategic visioning before a project has even become formalised all the way through to master planning, early concept design, and even intricate details and furniture design.
We work closely with community and translate that input into whatever stage the project is at. For example, we’ve worked on some very large-scale master planning initiatives in Brisbane City; citywide strategic frameworks. We also take on projects that zoom right in, such as selecting specific textiles or creating custom furniture pieces. We do everything in between as well.
Public art commissions are also a big part of what we do, which ties into Troy and Amanda’s arts backgrounds as the owners of the business. This opens up opportunities to bring in other First Nations artists and bring them along for the ride, because there is definitely a space where design and art intersect in meaningful ways.
What is your approach to stakeholder management at Blaklash, especially when you're working to meaningfully embed First Nations perspectives throughout the process?
The interesting part is it's quite layered. Within the team, we are partly the First Nations perspectives, but we also understand we can't be the only ones. We can't speak for the Country we’re on, because we're not from here, we're still visitors.
Our approach is grounded in understanding that we need to hear directly from traditional custodians. We also need to engage broader First Nations community members and ensure their input is captured at stages of the project where it can genuinely influence change and create impact. That’s the role we often play, understanding all the different stakeholders, recognising the constraints and opportunities of a project, and identifying pressure points.
Then, when we engage with community, we can say: “We understand that your aspirations are these. Here’s how we see those translating on this particular project. Here are three ways we might be able to do that.”
We then take that feedback back to the design team and our clients and ask, “What option do you think is the most feasible? How do we make this happen?” From there, it becomes a collaborative process of pushing and pulling.
This is rather than throwing traditional custodians into the deep end, where they may not have the full context of the project and the client might respond with, “We can’t do that,” and it all the progress gets lost.
Working in the space of culturally led architectural design, what does this mean to you in terms of the impact it can create? Why is it important to support the creation of connected places and spaces that are sustainable, social, and bring communities together?
I think it’s interesting that the built environment is something a lot of people don’t really think about unless they work in it. It only becomes noticeable when a space works really well or really badly. We tend to only notice it at the extremes.
The reality is that the built environment and spaces we inhabit shape how we feel, interact with each other, view the world, and what we value. In turn, we can use the built environment to express those values or reshape them for the better. At Blaklash, we often say that when you listen deeply to First Nations communities and design with their voices in mind, you almost always end up with better outcomes; not just for the Indigenous people who engaged us or ourselves as Indigenous people, but for everyone who uses these spaces.
The results are usually more comfortable, inviting, welcoming, and inclusive, the opposite of the hostile architecture often present in urban environments.
This approach also creates opportunities for culture to be at the forefront. Even small discovery moments, like when people learn something just by interacting with a space on their lunch break or wandering through a park can be powerful. Education is so important for shifting how people perceive First Nations communities, and I love the idea of creating spaces where that learning happens almost passively. People may not even realise they’re being educated, and that’s something really interesting to play with.
Where do you see key opportunities for impact-led businesses to better support First Nations leaders and people working to create authentic storytelling connected to Country?
We're definitely interested in supporting students. Owen Café and Erin McDonald on our team are particularly focused on what that pipeline of students looks like, and how we can change the way design is taught within institutions. That’s something actively happening within Blaklash.
From my perspective, I think there’s so much opportunity through procurement and embedding opportunities within the projects themselves. With Blaklash, we can almost act as a kind of vetting layer for supply chains. We can have conversations with design teams and say, “We know a First Nations carpenter who would do a beautiful job here, so let’s bring them in,” and create opportunities that are specifically tailored to their skill set.
The same goes for remote communities that have a real, urgent need for housing. How do we ensure design teams commit to creating housing that can actually be partially delivered onsite by local First Nations community members? We don’t want to be entirely reliant on prefabricated builds being constructed elsewhere and then brought into community by outside subcontractors.
It’s about having the foresight to say, “Here’s where the opportunity exists, here’s where the skill sets are,” and tying those things together so that projects can deliver real, meaningful impact and positive change for the community.
What advice would you give to an emerging social entrepreneur or an impact-led designer who’s passionate about creating long-lasting change?
I always feel a bit funny giving people advice because I still feel quite young in my career! But I’d probably say continue to listen and learn from those around you. That’s something I always try to do.
Listening to people with different opinions or approaches to life helps you to understand more about their perspectives. If we just isolate ourselves in our little bubbles, we never get to see what’s really going on outside in the real world. Sometimes the bubble gets burst without you wanting it to be (which can be a shock), but if you keep exposing yourself to different things and continuously learning from different perspectives, it can solidify your own values and thinking.
It can also help you expand how you're designing for people you might have overlooked in the past, and bring that awareness into your practice.
What inspiring projects or initiatives have you come across recently creating a positive change?
There’s honestly so much going on that it would be impossible to list them all here, but one that comes to mind is First Nations Futures. Louis Mokak, who used to work here at Blaklash, is part of that team.
They’re a funding platform that’s redistributing wealth earned on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Country back to First Nations community organisations. They’re doing some really incredible work.
It also gives both non-Indigenous and Indigenous community members the opportunity to channel their money directly into community initiatives they believe in and want to support without those organisations needing to bend their processes or approaches to fit rigid grant criteria that may not have been written for them in the first place. I’m excited about the fact that First Nations Futures is gaining traction, and the list of organisations they’re supporting just continues to grow.
They’re also a great resource to check out to see what types of initiatives are happening across the continent and get connected with more of them.
To finish off, what books or resources would you recommend for our audience?
There are honestly so many. I’d probably point people back to Owen Café’s Impact Boom interview episode because he’s so across the media and is a real veteran when it comes to recommending books.
One that stands out for me is Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia, edited by Anita Heiss. It’s a collection of firsthand accounts from Indigenous people across the continent. It came out a few years ago, but I remember reading it and there were a few stories that truly resonated with me.
As someone who grew up off Country, when I went to Tamworth to see extended family I was considered the city kid. You can imagine going further west inland to Brewarrina, I was really a fish out of water, but also on a journey of finding my way home.
It’s an interesting and powerful read that showcases all of these different perspectives of how people fit in or don’t fit in with society for all sorts of reasons. It reflects my own curiosity around how people can experience the same world so differently.
Initiatives, Resources and people mentioned on the podcast
Recommended books
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia, edited by Anita Heiss
