Our Team – Mike Butler

Mike is a First Nations Engagement Consultant who provides guidance and support to BROOKS in relation to its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and broader engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Since January 2021, Mike has worked alongside the BROOKS team to strengthen understanding, awareness and approaches to meaningful engagement with Australia’s First Peoples.

Through his experience and cultural knowledge, Mike has supported BROOKS in building its capability and confidence in First Nations engagement, contributing valuable advice and perspectives across a number of community-focused initiatives, including the St Vincent’s Hospital project.

Mike is a trained mediator and completed a Juris Doctor (Law) degree in 2018. His strengths lie in his commitment to community, relationship building and his ability to facilitate respectful conversations between organisations and First Nations stakeholders. He was recognised for his contribution to community development through the City West Housing 2021/2022 Leadership Award for his involvement in Community Housing.

A Murri man who traces his bloodline to Iningai country, Mike is an Aboriginal representative in his Sydney home (Pyrmont & Ultimo). Mike grew up in highly cross-cultural environments, and his engagement with the community is long and varied. Originally trained as a professional engineer, Mike followed on to a career in journalism, where he learned communication on a number of levels. His recent engagement has been with traditional custodians and land councils in NSW, QLD and the Northern Territory around mining, infrastructure projects, health, child removals and incarceration.

His recent engagement has been working with traditional custodians and land councils in Papua New Guinea, NSW, QLD and the Northern Territory around mining, infrastructure projects, health, child removals and incarceration. He recently won the City West Housing 2022 leadership award for his involvement in Community Housing.