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This study uses Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a lens for informing the process for building on employees' existing wellbeing within one Australian organisation, using the ‘discovery, dreaming, designing, and achieving destiny’ process. Using POSH as a theoretical framework, we worked with a large Not-For-Profit healthcare organisation as part of the ‘discovery’ phase to identify elements of what was positive, flourishing, and life-giving in the practices of their employees. During the ‘dreaming’ process, employees' wellbeing was identified as a strength. During the ‘designing’ phase, a training program was co-designed to build on employees' existing levels of wellbeing. This paper reports outcomes as part of the ‘achieving destiny component’ of the AI process. In particular, the outcomes show that employees' knowledge of, and ability to use positive emotions increased, which is a positive first step for increasing employees' wellbeing and organisational resilience.

There is a need to understand how leadership affects the well-being of local government employees working under conditions of prolonged austerity-driven reforms. A total of 118 Australian local government employees were surveyed. The analysis involved hierarchical regression using the PROCESS macro in SPSS, which identified the total, direct, and bootstrapped biascorrected indirect effects. The findings suggest that managers demonstrated some leadership behaviours required to lead staff positively; however, authentic leadership behaviours need to be strengthened to ensure they can lead an under-resourced, under-staffed sector of government. These findings are consistent with recent findings from the Australian Local Government Association analysis of gaps in the skill profile of local government. Authentic leadership and PsyCap capabilities are known to increase sector capability, especially to achieve higher outcomes in a time when austerity is still driving policy. Local government is not sustainable without effective leadership that can navigate austerity-led policies with agility based on constructive feedback to ensure a productive workplace that enhances employee well-being.

Taking the case of the Mwerlap-speaking people from the islands of Gaua and Merelava in northern Vanuatu, this article investigates the forces at play in the mobility of people in Vanuatu. I describe the process by which a diasporic community transitioned into the Leweton Cultural Village in the urban setting of Luganville, Espiritu Santo. In a context of extremely high levels of linguistic and cultural diversity, the research project reported in this article examines the ways in which a diasporic community is navigating an intercultural space by mobilizing itself and its cultural assets in a variety of rapidly evolving formats that span a range of industries, sectors and cultural transition areas. I add to the knowledge and understanding of the significance of subnational diasporas by exploring the role they can play as incubators of cultural export products, particularly in the music and tourism industries, by using the case of the ni-Vanuatu performers of women's “water music”.

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