Establishing The National Centre of Indigenous Excellence
H&K and the ILC quickly moved to develop the centre's key philosophies and brand identity through a series of workshops with key stakeholders, community leaders and H&K staff, through these workshops it was recommended by H&K the name be changed from the original title of National Indigenous Development Centre to the National Centre Of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) to fit this newly developed brand identify.
H&K's strategy involved the development of a multifaceted communications approach to ensure local community, stakeholders and relevant government persons were aware of the NCIE. It included the development of a government relations briefing program, stakeholder and community engagement program, issues and crisis management plan, media strategy and centre launch plan.
Monthly newsletters were developed to create regular dialogue with key stakeholders and members of the local community. NCIE Hosted a Community Open Day to engender a sense of inclusiveness in the local community. Residents of Redfern, friends and family were invited to enjoy a 'sneak peak' of the Centre ahead of its large-scale national launch. H&K invited key stakeholders and other interested parties to a series of education evenings at the NCIE - designed to keep all local community members abreast of key developments and encourage discussion and feedback.
The ultimate goal to develop and implement a national communications program to communicate that the NCIE is a national Centre for all young Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to share their hopes, dreams and aspirations was achieved. The launch of the NCIE was attended by Prime Minister, The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, the Premier of NSW, The Hon Kristina Keneally MP, Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of NSW. The event was hailed as a hugely momentous and significant occasion for Australians and in particular, Indigenous Australians. Key indigenous advocates AFL player Michael O'Loughlin and Australian of the Year finalist Craig Ashby also attended the event as well as many Indigenous elders and community representatives.
A total of 12 separate television news pieces ran on ABC (Sydney, Canberra, Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide), SBS, SKY News, Channel Seven (Sydney and Melbourne), Channel 10 and NITV (Run twice).21 print news pieces ran nationally and regionally. 30 individual radio pieces ran and online stories were run on AAP, SMH.com.au, Skynews.com.au, ABC.net.au/news, Australian Government News, Vibe.com.au, Vodpod.com.au as well as featuring on Youtube as well as featuring on The Hon Kevin Rudd MP and Kristina Keneally MP Twitter accounts receiving over 30 'rewteets' by followers. A number of the programs continue run after H&K finished their project and news of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence continues to spread across the country.
In September 2010 H&K Received an Award Of Commendation At the PRIA State Awards For Excellence for the NCIE Project.