Out and About: Kiara Tallboy

HIPPY First Nations Network Site Advisor

In conversation with Kiara

Out and About is the Network News feature that puts a face to the name of a HANO team member on the road, in community halls, at Site Gatherings, in the Coordinator's office. In this edition, we're on the road with Kiara Tallboy.

There's a knack Kiara has that she probably doesn't think twice about. Within minutes of walking into a room of strangers, she's engaged them in conversation, and not long after that, turned them into allies.
Ask her about it, and she'll put it down to just being herself: reading the room, cracking a joke, letting people know how similar she is to you. But when listening to how she sets about building relationships, from the first site visit, it looks less like luck and more like an interest in engaging with people.
It's the sort of thing that can't really be taught, only recognised.
It shows up again in how she shares.
Her stories arrive complete, whole-hearted, with the right beat for a laugh or a pause at the exact perfect time! It becomes obvious that that desire to connect flows subconsciously, whether she's training a room of new tutors or recounting a visit two years on.

It's probably no accident that training is the part of the job she says she loves most.

Can we begin by telling readers a bit about yourself and your role in the HIPPY National Office?

Sure! I currently work as a Site Advisor, supporting 16 HIPPY sites across Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland. 14 of them Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations.

Before moving to Melbourne in 2018, I built my career in early childhood education in Adelaide: as an Educator with children under two years of age, then into an Assistant Director role, managing an autism-specific early learning program. I also spent time in TAFE, supporting students through their Children's Services qualifications and running professional learning workshops on autism spectrum disorder.

I am drawn to early childhood development, attachment theory, working alongside families, and play-based learning, and I've loved leading teams and delivering training throughout my career. Being a Site Advisor lets me draw on all of that: coaching coordinators, building capability, and working with leaders to strengthen outcomes for children and families.

One of my favourite parts of the role is getting to travel this country and meet the people behind it. Every site and community brings something different, and I learn a lot along the way.

What shapes how I show up, at work and in life, is a genuine love of connection and hearing people's stories.
I believe everyone has one worth listening to, and one waiting to be told.

I'd like to think the people at HANO and the sites I support would say I'm passionate about HIPPY and what it does for children, families and communities. I'd imagine they would say I am loud, fun, energetic, and always up for celebrating a win.
Above all, I hope they'd say I'm someone they can rely on.

The first day at a new site is about establishing a rapport.

I feel like they're expecting a “scary person from the Melbourne office,” so my first goal is to work on putting the team at ease. That means asking questions, having a laugh, and showing up “just like you.”

I ensure I fly in the day before when possible. I quickly settle into the accommodation and take a walk or drive around town to get a feel for the community before the visit begins.

Once at the Site, I try to book in only a few key anchors. Say a tutor training, a home visit, a Gathering, but hold the plan loosely.

Things will pop up, and you go with the flow because generally that's where the magic is

Could you tell us about a visit from this year?

Between March and July this year, I completed ten establishment visits, all with new Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations at very different stages of their HIPPY journey.

What begins as a bit of nervousness all around seems to shift in future interactions. The Site visits are key to laying the foundation for strong relationships.

What is a recent key learning or cultural insight from your travels that you believe is important for the network to understand?

One theme stood out across every visit: the sheer passion and energy of these new providers, determined to do right by the program from day one.

Across the board, from Tutors to CEOs, I've been hearing, 'We love HIPPY, we believe in HIPPY, we're going to do our absolute best.' It is the best feeling!

I notice it even in the way I am welcomed into the spaces. There is a different feeling, like walking into a family.

CEOs greeting me with a hug rather than a handshake have become a deeply familiar and valued part of these visits.

Every time I stood in a new provider space and met the HIPPY team, I thought: HIPPY is home. It's exactly where it belongs in these communities

What did you notice, Kiara? Is it community shaping HIPPY, or vice versa?

My approach is grounded in self-determination.

I don't assume a site can't do something, and I know I hold every site to high expectations. And that's because I believe they can meet them.

It's just about the journey and how we get there

Rather than comparing sites, I just meet each one where it's at. The key is to treat change as the norm rather than the exception, be it staffing, unique circumstances, or the factors that make up that community.

HIPPY cannot exist without the community it's supporting.

What's still sitting with you after a visit? What surprised you, or was harder to sit with?

Kiara is candid about the harder side of the work. Visiting community regularly means witnessing real hardship: grief, loss, and what some coordinators describe as 'funeral Fridays.' She's learned to hold professional boundaries carefully: debriefing with her manager and factoring in deliberate time to reset after each visit.

It is critical for me that I take a walk, take part in a cultural activity, or connect with a friend before I sit down to catch up on emails on that last evening before I fly out

Knowing what's in scope for HIPPY, and what isn't, allows me to focus on what I can influence, and knowing when to refer a family on is just as important.

Half the battle is acknowledging that there are wraparound support services better placed to assist families in other areas of their lives. I am constantly reminded that HIPPY is just a drop in the ocean, but it can definitely have its impact

If there's one thing you'd like every coordinator and tutor to know, what would it be?

You make an impact, even if you don't see it immediately, or tomorrow, or that year. But you definitely make an impact in the community

Every community HIPPY works in has a lot going on outside the program, Kiara says, and sites keep teaching her the same lesson: self-determination is the key to their success.

'I am grateful to have travelled to so many places. And the people I meet on a visit, they fill my cup up to something I can't even put into words.'
Parents who are just doing their absolute best, breaking cycles, people in their first jobs, people getting trained for the first time. 'All these firsts, and they mention thanks to me. I can't help but reflect that it's all a result of their efforts.

That's the stuff that keeps me going, that fills my cup, and reminds me the program really does make a difference out there

What's one memory that has stayed with you for years?

During one of my very first Assessment Program Quality (APQ) visits in 2019, I comforted a crying baby at a Gathering so a mum could finish decorating a Book Week cape. It was a small moment of normalcy in the fog of early motherhood, and one I had completely forgotten about until this year.

At a site visit to a Site earlier this year, I got talking to a woman and slowly realised it was that same mum, now studying to become a HIPPY tutor herself. And she was there with her daughter who's grown into a confident, gorgeous young girl.

That mum probably doesn't know how much that moment meant, but it was a full-circle moment for me.

Knowing that she was doing well and the kid was thriving means a lot to me