Walking Beside Communities: Kooyoora’s Year of Journeys
In 2025, the Kooyoora team spent a lot of time on the road. From bustling cities to remote towns, across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, our staff travelled thousands of kilometres to sit face-to-face with the people we serve. Our commitment is reflected in the many destinations pinned on our 2025 Kooyoora Staff Travel Map, showcasing the breadth of our engagement throughout the year.
Although Kooyoora is a predominantly remote working organisation, scattered across different locations, we believe that nothing replaces the power of being present. Each journey was about more than logisticsit was about listening, learning, and building trust.
Meeting People Where They Are
Much of our travel was to meet individuals seeking Redress or lodging complaints. These conversations are often deeply personal, and we know they deserve the dignity of being heard in person. Alongside this, our staff delivered training sessions, joined conferences, and shared knowledge at gatherings that brought together leaders, professionals, and communities.
We found ourselves presenting at Synods, speaking at the New Zealand House of Bishops, joining Director Professional Standards Network Meetings, and contributing to events like the Port Lincoln Registrars and Finance Managers’ Conference, the Anglican Provincial Council of Victoria, and the Australian Anglican Law Conference. Each stop was another chance to connect, exchange ideas, and strengthen relationships.
Dedication on the Road
If there were a prize for commitment, our Redress Manager Trevor earned it many times over. In 2025 alone, he travelled more than 100 times across Australia and New Zealand, meeting people in person to discuss redress matters. His journeys reflect the heart of our work: showing up, again and again, for those who need support.
Listening to Community Voices: Victorian Walkabout
One of the most memorable chapters of the year was the Victorian Provincial Walkabout 2025. Our CEO, Fiona Boyle, travelled across the state, meeting with Aboriginal communities and hearing their stories. These conversations were not just meetings, they were moments of connection, where voices that have long been silenced were given space to be heard.
Read our full article and learn more about the Victorian Provincial Walkabout.
Standing with First Peoples: Supporting Treaty
Kooyoora was pleased to join Murnong First Peoples Gathering Place to celebrate Treaty and to affirm our support for the Victorian Treaty process. As an independent safeguarding and complaints organisation, we see every day the importance of listening, accountability and justice, the same principles that sit at the heart of Treaty.
We recognise that Aboriginal communities have led this work with strength, wisdom and self-determination. Treaty provides a pathway to culturally safe systems, truth telling and fair structures that support healing and a more just future for all Victorians.
Kooyoora stands alongside First Peoples in progressing Treaty, grounded in respect, integrity and our ongoing commitment to safer communities for everyone.
Listening for Safer Spaces: Reflections from Suva
As part of her travel in 2025, our CEO Fiona Boyle also spent time in Suva, listening to voices within the Anglican Church of Polynesia about what safe space means in their cultural, spiritual and community contexts. These conversations went well beyond meetings or the sharing of expertise, creating space for reflection, learning and deeper understanding.
What Fiona heard reinforced a core principle of safeguarding: while safety, dignity and accountability are universal, safeguarding is never one-size-fits-all. Clergy, lay leaders and community members spoke about the importance of trust, cultural respect and clear boundaries, particularly in the care of children and vulnerable people. These discussions highlighted the importance of humility in safeguarding work, and arriving not as experts with fixed answers, but as partners willing to listen and learn.
Faith communities play a powerful role in shaping belonging and care, and with that comes a responsibility to ensure churches are places where people feel heard, protected and supported. Safeguarding, we were reminded, is as much about presence as it is about policy.
We thank the 42nd Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Polynesia for their thoughtful engagement and acknowledge the leadership of the Archbishop in this area. Our CEO, Fiona Boyle has reflected on how much can be learned when we lean into traditional and ancient wisdom. Indigenous words and concepts shared during Fiona’s time in Suva powerfully connected safeguarding to relationship, spirituality, ancestors, shared responsibility, land, ocean, future generations, tapu and sacred boundaries.
Fiona’s time in Suva reaffirmed a simple but vital truth: safe spaces grow when we listen carefully, act responsibly and remain committed to learning together.
Reducing Our Environmental Impact When We Travel
While travel is an important part of Kooyoora’s work, enabling learning, collaboration and meaningful connection, we recognise that it has an environmental impact. For that reason, we take a considered approach to how and when we travel, focusing on practical steps to reduce and responsibly manage our footprint.
Where possible, staff plan travel to serve multiple purposes and minimise unnecessary trips. This includes combining meetings, travelling together and choosing shared transport options such as carpooling, public transport or shared airport transfers. These choices help reduce emissions while making better use of each journey.
We also acknowledge that some emissions are unavoidable. When travel is necessary, Kooyoora pays for environmental offsets that support initiatives such as reforestation, renewable energy and emissions reduction projects. While offsets are not a substitute for reducing emissions, they form part of our responsibility for the impact of essential travel.
Small decisions while away also matter. Staff are encouraged to decline daily hotel room servicing, reducing water use, energy consumption, chemical cleaners and unnecessary linen washing.
Individually, these actions may seem modest. Together, they reflect a shared commitment to travelling responsibly.
By being mindful of how we move between communities, Kooyoora aims to align our travel practices with our broader environmental values and our responsibility to future generations.