RMIT University is reinforcing its implementation of best-practice cultural safety and respect for First Nations people through groundbreaking partnerships with First Nations-led creative agencies Solid Lines and Little Rocket.
Solid Lines partnership:
RMIT has partnered with Australia's first First Nations-led illustration agency to produce the five-part podcast series Solid Yarns.
Each 30-minute episode features a conversation between a First Nations artist and their client about a landmark Australian design project, for example, the creation of the Aboriginal flag genmoji.
The conversations reveal insights about the creative process, challenges faced by First Nations artists navigating commercial practice, and learnings about how to foster empowering professional relationships.
Importantly, Solid Yarns demonstrates rare examples of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property protections that have been explicitly written into design contracts.
The podcast features industry partners including Australia Post, HarperCollins and BKK Architects that have collaborated on projects across branding, publishing, architecture and public art.
Solid Yarns now is available to download and listen on major podcast platforms.
RMIT Senior Lecturer in Communication Design, Dr Nicola St John, highlighted the significance of the podcast.
"Design in Australia must reckon with Country and culture. Solid Yarns offers a way to listen and learn directly from First Nations artists about how respectful collaboration can happen in practice."
Solid Lines co-founder Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan emphasised the importance of early collaboration.
"First Nations artists are too often invited to participate at the end of the creative process. Solid Yarns shows what's possible when we are collaborators from the start, with an emphasis on cultural safety and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property."
Little Rocket partnership:
In parallel, RMIT's College of Business and Law is collaborating with Little Rocket, a First Nations-owned marketing and creative agency. Launching from Semester 1 2026, this partnership is set to enhance the Master of Marketing curriculum, allowing students to work on real-world projects that amplify First Nations voices and values.
Master of Marketing program manager at RMIT, Dr Daniel Rayne, said Little Rocket's expertise will inspire students to develop news skills and ways of thinking.
"As a First Nations-owned and operated marketing agency, Little Rocket brings invaluable insights that align strongly with the goals of our College and RMIT. Their work on innovative, socially driven projects offers our students the opportunity to learn from a high-calibre organisation tackling real social issues through marketing."
Founder of Little Rocket and proud Gurindji man, John Burgess, said the partnership is an opportunity to expand the impact of the organisation.
"These sorts of opportunities accelerate the reconciliation process through enabling a peer-to-peer exchange of modern, strategic and creative applications. We are looking forward to working with RMIT to benefit students, our team, and our First Nations supply chain to create positive outcomes."
Through these partnerships, RMIT continues to cultivate an environment where cultural safety is paramount, providing students with practical, culturally-informed learning experiences and fostering stronger connections with First Nations communities.
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