For Sarah Eccles, the personal and the political are inextricably linked. As co-CEO of the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, a Wadawurrung woman on her father’s side, and a leader whose work spans cultural burning, treaty advocacy and renewable energy negotiation, the distinction simply doesn’t exist. “Country is kin,” she says. “It’s a part of who we are. Country is alive; it breathes like we do.”
That understanding sits at the heart of a recent episode of There Will Be Dancing, a podcast produced by Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) in partnership with Women’s Agenda, in which Sarah reflects on what it means to lead with Country at the centre of every decision. And what the broader Australian community needs to learn if real progress is to follow.
First Nations leader Ruth Langford, a Yoriyora Jaja Harong woman from Palawa Country in Tasmania, opens the episode with a reflection that cuts to the heart of why protecting Country is an act of leadership, not just activism . “Our leadership is not based upon a colonial structure which is very much about gaining power over.” She speaks movingly of old growth forests as our teachers — distributing nutrients across entire landscapes, holding water, sustaining whole communities. “It’s imperative that we act now to follow our cultural responsibility and protect those very things that give us life.”
Sarah carries the same sense of cultural responsibility into government corridors and negotiations. She doesn’t mince her words. “Sometimes the cultural load is just heavy. You’re often the minority in everything.” And yet the imperative to be in those rooms is clear; generations of First Nations activists fought to secure that seat.
Her co-CEO model with cousin Beck is itself a quiet act of systems change.
The two bring different strengths to the same role, check in daily, work through disagreements behind closed doors and present a united front to community. “We often joke about having 300 CEOs really, from a community perspective,” she says. The real work, she explains, is constantly balancing three things: culture, care and cash.
The stakes of operating within a capitalist system while remaining culturally grounded are high. Victoria’s renewable energy transition is opening up a once-only opportunity; a chance to redistribute wealth intergenerationally to Traditional Owner communities whose Country is directly impacted. Traditional owner groups across Victoria’s renewable energy zones are coming together, negotiating collectively and holding firm on what genuine engagement looks like. “There is a lot more strength in that collectivity,” she says.
Treaty in Victoria is also a live issue. Hard won and still unwritten, it offers a constant, self-determined voice. For community, for culture, and for Country in the school curriculum, in government and in ceremony. According to Sarah, the attacks have been sustained and the social media environment is not a culturally safe place. But her response is equally clear. “Our old people have been here. They have fought through many different governments and changes and broken promises. We will continue to stand up and stand strong.”
Listen to the full conversation with Sarah Eccles on There Will Be Dancing, available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major platforms.