Havas Red and Mundanara Bayles launch First Nations communications offer

Havas Red has partnered with leading First Nations advocate and BlackCard founder Mundanara Bayles to launch Havas Blak, a new communications offering designed to strengthen First Nations-led strategy, storytelling and cultural capability in Australia.

Announced during National Reconciliation Week, Havas Blak will combine BlackCard’s cultural leadership with Havas Red’s strategic communications scale, with the aim of embedding First Nations perspectives more deeply into mainstream communications.

The launch comes as demand grows from brands, government and corporate Australia for culturally informed communications, engagement and storytelling, while the First Nations communications sector remains relatively fragmented and under-scaled.

Havas Blak will work across First Nations-led strategic communications, storytelling, cultural capability training, consultancy, media training, leadership visibility and programs designed to lift representation across business, policy and public discourse.

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The offer will also consult into Havas Village agencies, giving the broader group access to First Nations-led advice across client work.

“Havas Blak is about action, not intention. The communications industry has a responsibility to help shape a more inclusive national narrative, and that starts by creating greater space for First Nations voices to lead,” said James Wright, group CEO of Havas ANZ, global CEO of Havas Red and global chair of Havas PR Network.

“Partnering with Mundanara ensures this is built on authenticity and focused on impact. Launching during National Reconciliation Week under the theme ‘All In’ is a clear reminder that meaningful progress requires collective and sustained accountability.”

Bayles said the partnership is designed to shift power and place First Nations perspectives at the centre of decision-making and public conversation.

“This partnership is about shifting power, ensuring First Nations perspectives are embedded, respected and heard at the highest levels,” said Bayles, founder of BlackCard and co-founder of Havas Blak.

“Havas Blak creates a platform for culturally grounded storytelling that reflects truth, drives understanding and delivers real outcomes for our communities. ‘All in’ means walking together to reinforce Aboriginal self-determination through economic resilience, and that’s exactly what this partnership with Havas is designed to achieve.”

The launch formalises an existing relationship between Havas Red and BlackCard, with the agency having provided pro bono strategic communications support to BlackCard for the past two years.

That work included support for BlakCast, Australia’s first podcast network owned and led by First Nations people, as well as projects including Culture Capital, the Bros and Cons platform and Bayles’ advocacy work connected to Jamie Oliver’s children’s book Billy and the Epic Escape.

Myrna Van Pelt, managing partner, corporate at Havas Red, said the new offer moves the relationship from support to co-creation.

“Our pro bono partnership with BlackCard has shown what’s possible when collaboration is grounded in trust and shared purpose,” Van Pelt said.

“Havas Blak is the next step, moving from support to true co-creation, embedding cultural intelligence and First Nations perspectives into the core of how we advise clients.”

The partnership also builds on the shared involvement of Bayles and Wright on the board of mental fitness charity Gotcha4Life, where both work on advancing First Nations mental wellbeing.

The launch adds a specialist First Nations communications offer to Havas Red's broader capabilities across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.