Koaching the Gap®

Helping people move forward, together.

Coaching, cultural supervision, advisory and facilitation for people, teams and organisations ready to grow beyond cultural awareness, into culturally responsive practice.

Services

Four ways to work with us. Select one to read how it works.

One-to-one

Coaching, mentoring and cultural supervision.

Groups and teams

Group reflection and workshops.

Strategic advisory

Advice and bespoke solutions.

Speaking engagements

Keynotes, panels and lectures.

Ted Johnston teaching at RMIT University
Photo: SmilebyRhi

Foundations of our practice

  • Enabling Aboriginal self-determination

    Most organisations are good at asking Mob what they think. Fewer are set up for the answer to change anything. We work on the second part: where the decisions actually get made, who's in the room when they are, and what it would take for a decision to land somewhere new.

  • Developing culturally responsive practices

    Cultural awareness training teaches people things. Responsive practice is what they do with it once the training is over and the week gets busy. We help teams work out what that looks like in their own work and their own words, so it holds.

  • Supporting people navigating cultural and colonial load

    Mob at work often carry a second job: being the one who gets asked, who explains, and who keeps the peace when talking about things that impact us and our communities. That takes skill, and it deserves to be seen. We help people and organisations name it, share the load, and value it properly.

  • Wholistic approaches to mental health and social and emotional wellbeing

    Wellbeing is bigger than one person. It's family, community, Country, culture and connection. We work from that whole picture and build on what's already strong. We also know where our work ends and a health service begins.

  • Leading from lived and living experience

    Our practitioners have been where the people we work with are now, and are still living it. We don't lead with that as a story. It's the ground the work stands on.

Our edge

Koaching the Gap is an Indigenous owned and operated coaching, advisory and facilitation practice. We work from Melbourne, on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, with people across Australia, mostly online.

  • We start from capability. People are capable. Most coaching starts there. So do we. Nobody we work with needs fixing.
  • We sort what's yours to move from what isn't. Some of it is in you: a habit, a belief, a skill you haven't built yet. Some of it is around you: a rule, a workplace, a decision someone won't hand over. Knowing which is which is the job.
  • We're honest about what isn't yours. Push on the wrong thing and you'll wear yourself out and call it growth. When it isn't yours to move, we say so, and the work shifts to whoever can move it.
  • We don't turn up with one tool. Coaching when the next step is yours. Mentoring when it helps to have someone who's done it. Cultural supervision when you need somewhere to put the load down. A workshop, or a yarn with the organisation, when the thing in your way isn't your problem to solve.
  • Lived and living experience. We've been inside the systems we work on: government, corporate, university, community. We learned this where the difference matters most, and it holds at every level.
  • We know where the line is. We're not a health service, and we don't pretend to be. What's said in a session stays in the room, within the limits in our terms.

Our people

Ted Johnston, founder of Koaching the Gap

Ted Johnston

Founder and Principal

(Tagalaka and Taepathiggi)

I see every First Nations person as a leader. The work is clearing what hides that, in people and in the places they work.

More about Ted

I grew up in rural Queensland. I've spent more than ten years inside the systems that shape our lives: seven years in the public sector, time in corporate Australia, teaching at university, and now building a business.

In 2025 I walked away from government to build Koaching the Gap from nothing. I'm a certified organisational coach, a community director and a board member, and I'm studying law. I work from lived experience, with a focus on better wellbeing and a goal of collective prosperity.

The rest is on LinkedIn.

Rhiannon Busch

Rhiannon Busch

Business development and photography

(Tagalaka and Taepathiggi)

Rhi brings the operations lens: pipeline, relationships and the systems that keep the work moving. She's also behind the camera for Real People, Real Stories.

More about Rhiannon

Rhi photographs as SmilebyRhi, and the photos of Ted on this site are hers. She comes from a consulting background and works alongside Ted on business development, client relationships and the operating systems behind Koaching the Gap.

Together they make Real People, Real Stories: everyday Mob telling their own stories, in their own words.

How we work

Koaching the Gap works on a subcontractor model. The Principal leads the practice. The work is delivered by experienced practitioners who contract to Koaching the Gap for each engagement and are matched to what you need. Everyone who works under our name works to our terms, and if someone else would suit you better, we may point you to them.

In their words

Having had the privilege of working with Ted well before this venture was even conceived, I've seen firsthand his unwavering commitment to his identity, to our Mob, and to the people he serves. Ted is someone who carries himself with great dignity and integrity, and his genuine dedication to uplifting others is inspiring. If you have the opportunity to work with him, I strongly encourage you to take it. Ted has an exceptional ability to connect with people, evoke both reflection and emotion, and provide the kind of accountability that drives real growth.
Duane FraserWulgurukaba and Bidjara Traditional Owner and CEO, Council of First Nations Ltd
Ted changes lives through an authentic combination of humour, curiosity and humility. Ted draws on his lived and living experiences, and learned knowledges, wasting no time to deliver deep insights, hard truths, and transformative perspectives. If you or your organisation are grappling with some complex, thorny issues, I couldn't recommend Ted highly enough.
Dr Caroline LambertLived Experience Academic
Ted has been an exceptional mentor who helped me build confidence in my leadership skills and navigate challenging workplace relationships. His guidance extended beyond day-to-day advice: he encouraged me to explore different career pathways and embrace new opportunities. Ted exemplifies courage, integrity, perseverance, and passion, and through his mentorship, I learned to embody these qualities myself. One of the most significant impacts of his support was giving me the courage to leave a role where I excelled but faced an unsupportive environment and instead take on a new challenge in a different organisation and subject area. I am deeply grateful for Ted's wisdom and encouragement, which have been instrumental in my professional growth.
First Nations leader, public sector

Start with a yarn

No need to have it all worked out. Tell us roughly what's going on. The first conversation is a short scoping yarn, at no cost.

I'm enquiring for
Which of the following are you interested in?
One-to-one
Groups and teams
Strategic advisory
Speaking engagements

Or email hello@koachingthegap.com or call 0417 821 328. We're also on LinkedIn.