This is Stephen Bunduck, a Kardu Diminin man and generous participant in a series of visioning workshops in Wadeye, always in his big hat.

Here he describes the family and clan groups that make up the community, a complex overlay to our re-imagining of how the built environment might work.

He is speaking Murrinhpatha, a language described as ‘polysynthetic’ and with a ‘free word order’. We’re no linguists, and so we’re not going to begin to try and describe what this means. But we will point you to an article in the Scientific American journal that reveals how fascinating Murrinhpatha is, unique even within the context of Australian Aboriginal languages.

The community resisted the attempts at assimilation imposed by Catholic missionaries. In the article, the researcher asks an Elder, ‘how it was that despite the cruelty of the missions and the punishment by the nuns, her people still spoke Murrinhpatha. “We just used to whisper,” the woman replied.’

Murrinhpatha continues to thrive as a language and is widely spoken in community and given equal attention in school as English. Here’s a link to the journal article if you’d like to learn more; we promise it’s an interesting read!

We are delighted that our work has been included as a case study in a research paper developed by Hassell and the Green Building Council of Australia . The paper defines Social Value and describes its relationship to the built environment in Australia, using local and international examples. The authors plan for it to be shared far and wide through the government and design industry.

On page 22, the report profiles our Social Return on Design Investment (SRODI) Tool, which we developed to measure the social impact of projects delivered in First Nations communities. We’ve tested it amongst our clients on Groote Eylandt and are confident of its value. You can watch a short video about our process here .

TFA Principal, Nick Juniper is a qualified social impact assessment practitioner. If you think we can add value to your community, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

We are delighted to announce that Emma Williamson, TFA Partner and Co-Founder, has been appointed by the Minister for Planning; Lands; Housing and Homelessness as Western Australia’s Government Architect.

Emma has been instrumental in shaping our suburbs through her role on numerous Local Government Design Review Panels and the WA and SA State Design Panels. She has continued to guide The Fulcrum Agency and to speak openly about our work and approach to practice in public forums. We are incredibly proud of her contribution to advocating for a more equitable and generous profession.

This appointment is also tinged with sadness for us at TFA, as Emma will relinquish her role in the agency. We will miss her daily connections with our practice, her delicious contributions to Tuesday Lunch, and her remarkable eye for form, colour, and materiality.

In many ways, this role consolidates Emma’s skills and complements her belief that good design is critical to the issues we face as a society. Emma will continue to advocate for the role of architecture in contributing to issues such as inequality, the housing crisis and climate change. This year will feel very different at the TFA office, but we are excited to see Emma’s impact grow.

Read the WA Government’s Media Release here .

In this film, Terrance Jack from Jamukurnu-Yapalikurnu Aboriginal Corporation describes the fight for Native Title rights and basic services, such as functioning sewerage and clean water, on Martu ngurra (Country) in the Central Western Desert.

Our role has been to facilitate the community co-design process, ensuring that people are empowered to contribute to the decisions that impact their lives. Martu will use the outcomes of this work in their continuing negotiations with the State Government. We are incredibly lucky to be involved in this work.

This line by Luke Pearson stopped us in our tracks. His article, ‘ What is Australia day for? ’ is worth reading if you’re struggling to make sense of the day. For years we have kept the doors open on the 26th, a quiet action in recognition of our belief that the date must change. This year, we’ve collectively decided to close and protest alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples instead. ⁠
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We particularly like how Pearson’s article forces you to consider whether we need a national day at all. Our clients are First Nations people living and working in Australia’s most disadvantaged communities, without access to the basic services that white Australia takes for granted. Maybe we should hold off on celebrations until this is corrected.

We wish you and your family the very best for the festive period and summer ahead.

In place of Christmas gifts, we have donated to the Warrawee Women’s Refuge, a critical service providing accommodation and support to women and children escaping family violence. They will use our donation to refresh their playroom.

As our 2023 Impact Statement demonstrates, it has been a busy year and we’re looking forward to a holiday! Our studios will be closed from Thursday 21st December, re-opening Monday 8th January.

We hope you enjoy a restful break and look forward to connecting next year.

The artwork featured in the Impact Statement is by emerging Noongar artist Deanne Hill in collaboration with The Fulcrum Agency.

We are delighted that Boola Katitjin, Murdoch University ‘s new academic building received the 2023 Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture at last night’s National Architecture Awards! For us, the best bit of this project was working in collaboration with three great practices – Lyons , Officer Woods Architects and Silver Thomas Hanley (STH) .

‘Boola Katitjin is a bold and transformative addition to Murdoch University’s Perth campus on Noongar Country. Its name – in Noongar language, Boola Katitjin means “many facets and many levels of learning” – aptly captures the layering and flexibility that this building offers…. It is no easy feat to bring together many design minds and achieve a clear solution, but Boola Katitjin is an exemplar,’ the jury said in their citation.

Congratulations to all involved, and in particular, Nick Juniper and Akira Monaghan from our studio.