During National Reconciliation Week, HAVAS Red and First Nations advocate Mundanara Bayles have launched HAVAS Blak, formalising a two-year relationship into a dedicated First Nations communications practice.
First Nations communications has historically been something agencies do to communities. HAVAS Blak is built to do it with them.
During National Reconciliation Week, HAVAS Red and First Nations advocate Mundanara Bayles have launched HAVAS Blak, a dedicated First Nations communications practice. The announcement came under this year's Reconciliation theme "All In" and it isn't a campaign. It's a change to how the agency structures who leads the work.
The launch formalises a relationship that has been running for two years. HAVAS Red provided pro bono strategic communications support to BlackCard, Bayles' cultural training organisation, since 2023. That work included the launch of BlakCast, Australia's first podcast network owned and led by First Nations people.
HAVAS Blak will operate as a First Nations-led practice offering strategic communications, cultural storytelling and cultural capability training for corporate and government clients. The model combines Bayles' cultural authority and BlackCard's methodology with HAVAS Red's scale and media relationships.
Recent collaborations between the two parties include the launch of Culture Capital, a leadership podcast, the Bros and Cons platform and communications support for Bayles' advocacy work including involvement in a Jamie Oliver campaign for his children's book.
The practice positions HAVAS Red against a broader shift in the communications industry, where First Nations advisory has historically been bolted onto campaigns rather than embedded in the teams that build them. The structural difference is that HAVAS Blak is a named, resourced practice with a founding partner who controls the cultural authority, not a diversity programme within an existing structure.
For brands navigating Reconciliation Action Plans, Indigenous employment communications or community engagement, the question has typically been whether they're working with someone who has genuine cultural standing. HAVAS Blak is an attempt to make that distinction structural rather than case by case.