The systematic exclusion of Indigenous Peoples as a direct result of European invasion and generations of dysfunctionality narrative in Australia including racism and violence have left an endemic mark on Australian society. The interconnected nature of race, class, and gender have created an overlapping and interdependent system of discrimination and disadvantage for Indigenous Peoples in Australia. Racism, sexism and the social hierarchical policies and practices exist within colonial structures, systems, and workplaces. Because of this narrative Indigenous Peoples are forced to participate in unsafe workplaces and practices built on stolen land, simply to survive. Interestingly, Indigenous organisations appear to be offering some solutions to the danger of western workplaces by offering culturally appropriate and responsive workplaces that research suggests is also safe for marginalised non-Indigenous groups in Australia, such as peoples with disability and LGBTIQA+ (Uink et al., Culture, Health & Sexuality, 25(2), 206–222, 2023). In this chapter we, a collective of Aboriginal women scholars explore Indigenous Knowledges and governance practices in academia, and in doing so draw attention to the risk of working outside of Indigenous led and governed spaces. To achieve this, we drew on yarning to share our experiences of working in higher education and research, posing questions to ourselves; when faced with ongoing colonial violence and intersectional discrimination why do we work in the research space, we explored what workplaces offer us as Aboriginal women scholars and wonder if it is it employability or employer-ability?