Netball Australia have established a First Nations Cultural Council, embedding Indigenous perspectives in decision-making and tasked with implementing a cultural safety framework in what kickstarts the sport's "learning journey".

Netball's national governing body announced the initiative on Tuesday, set to drive "systemic reform" and led by experienced voices in sport, self-determination, governance and advocacy.

Netball Australia's General Manager First Nations and Kamilaroi woman, Ali Tucker-Munro, said there's a long process ahead, and it's not going to be rushed.

"I think this is the start of the sports learning journey. And for me, it's that real systemic and structural change piece I think is really needed in sport in general," she told National Indigenous Times.

Cultural Safety Framework will be rolled out in two phases - first the high performance and pathway space and later at community level. A cultural safety review is also planned.

"I'm really respectful and aware of those nuances and differences within each of those environments...but also I just want to make sure it's done in a really considered, collaborative way, so that we can properly scale it and expand it into that community level," Tucker-Munro said.

Council member Tricia Stroud said phase approach will address a crucial piece.

"As netball mum and netball grandma, our young girls, they're looking at their role models. They're looking at the pathway and what could be a life in netball," she said.

"If they don't see a healed, strong relationship at that level and a culturally safe pathway at the upper echelons of netball, then it's a deterrent for them."

Three Australian women have represented the national side across close to 90 years.

Donnell Wallam, who returns to Australia's elite competition Super Netball in 2026, is the latest to pull on the green and gold.

Stroud, a Kungarakan and Waramungu woman, joins the Council as current Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation and former chief operating officer with the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.

Joining her is former Commissioner of the Queensland Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry and first female Mayor of the Torres Shire Council (2016-2022) Vonda Malone; Curtin University professor and former elite basketballer Cheryl Kickett-Tucker; Decades-long respected health worker, education advocate and netball Aboriginal community netball leader Aunty Debra Walker; and high performance netball umpire coach and RMIT Regenerative Futures Institute Advisory Board member Stacey Campton.

Campton received an Order of Australia Medal for services to Netball and the Indigenous community.

"Humbled" and assured by the "calibre of Council members", Tucker-Munro says netball's latest move isn't complete, but taking its "first step", which she honest in saying is often the toughest.

"Reflecting on our past and where we've come from as a sport, and particularly with our relationship with First Nations community and people, for me, it's really about taking that first step," she said.

"It's an honourable thing to do, but I think it's got to be done in collaboration and co-design with First Nations people...but I'm also acutely aware that we've got a long journey ahead.

"It also presents a wealth of opportunity, but I'm also really mindful that some members of our community might be a little bit cynical or unsure about what this what this will actually turn into.

"I'm here wanting to make sure that we do make change in netball. And I think this is the first part of that - defining what is cultural safety in netball? What does it look like? What does it feel like?"

Both Tucker-Munro and Stroud said there's genuine commitment from the governing body.

It's not just about optics, or a quick fix.

"Cultural safety and systemic reform is not a project - it's a journey," Netball Australia chief executive Stacey West said. "It's about truth-telling, building trust, and transforming how we work and think."

Netball Australia board chair and former Diamonds captain Liz Ellis added: "This is about ensuring First Nations voices are at the heart of netball, shaping its future and guiding how we grow, govern and connect."

The Council's establishment comes after recent launched initiatives in the high-performance playing and surrounding space.

In 2024, the national Indigenous representative side, the Black Swans, debuted in the international arena at the PacificAus Sports series.

The side have participated in a second Pacific series and National Netball Championships.

In addition, 2024 saw the inaugural state and territory-based First Nations Tournament, which was again held earlier this year.

Stroud identified three priorities for the Council - to cement Council's relationship, build on trust and respect, and embedded cultural advice in conjunction with Netball Australia.

The cultural safety review and the framework, seen as a "founding document," were identified as to follow.