“Form coalitions that all believe in the same thing…you’re actually more resilient and robust,” he said.

Second, Dr Fitzpatrick said in his work with Aboriginal communities, it was also important to undertake projects that have community support.

“We only really go to places where the community has said we’ve a got problem here and we’ve got to do something about it,” he said.

“The third thing, it really is as simple as hope, optimism and enthusiasm.”

“You’ve got to be determined and tenacious and you’ve just got to keep going.”

On personal career journeys and growth, Dr Fitzpatrick said it is important impatience is not the driving force, rather a desire to do something and committing yourself to achieve your goal.

“The first thing is to believe in yourself, the second thing is to surround yourself with other people who believe in you and that also means distancing yourself from people who don’t,” he said.

“I think it is about courage and slightly risky leaps to the next level.”

Dr Fitzpatrick said being a leader can be difficult if you prefer to be on the front line of projects but developing teams can help resolve this issue.

“It is a matter of having the resources to build teams that can do what needs to be done and then sitting above those teams,” he said.

“I am trying to set some things in train that will have their own momentum and will be independent of me and then I’ll be able to move into those more significant leadership roles.