An evolving collection of ideas, disciplines, projects and perspectives.
Medley connects the dots.
An evolving collection of ideas, disciplines, projects and perspectives.
Medley connects the dots.
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Studio
Hello
Word
2026
Aboriginal
Hostels
Project Overview
Aboriginal Hostels Limited engaged us to develop a national recruitment campaign that could reflect the true nature of the work; practical, relational, and quietly impactful.
The objective was to move beyond role descriptions and instead position AHL as an environment people step into: one defined by care, cultural responsibility, and the accumulation of small, consistent actions that shape daily experience.
Project Type
Social Campaign
Services
Creative Direction
Social Media
Advertising
Teams Involved
Medley & Songlines Digital
Other / Tech?
Canva
Meta
Photoshop
APS 2 – Cooks, Kitchenhands, Housekeepers and Night Attendants
The Challenge
AHL provides culturally safe and affordable accommodation for First Nations people who need to be away from home, whether for medical care, secondary education, employment, or access to essential services. Across more than 40 hostels nationally, this includes not just a bed, but meals, safety, routine, and a supportive environment during periods of transition.
The work is tangible, consistent, and deeply human. But in recruitment, it risks being reduced to task-based roles: cooking, cleaning, administration, supervision. What’s harder to communicate is what sits underneath, creating a place where people feel safe, welcomed, and supported while away from Country.
The challenge was to communicate this without overstating it.
The campaign needed to hold the full scope of AHL’s impact; from large-scale national operations supporting thousands of people each year, to the everyday moments that define the experience on the ground. It also had to speak across a wide employment spectrum: from entry-level operational roles through to leadership positions, while maintaining clarity, accessibility, and respect.
At the same time, the work sits within a culturally significant context. Representation, tone, and messaging needed to be handled with care, ensuring the campaign felt grounded, credible, and aligned with AHL’s responsibility as both a service provider and one of the largest employers of First Nations people within the Australian Public Service.
APS 3 – Residential Youth Worker
APS 4 – Assistant Hostel Manager
The Strategy
The strategy was to anchor the campaign in the reality of the work: accommodation, meals, safety, and support, delivered consistently, every day, across a national network.
Rather than abstracting impact, we focused on making it recognisable. The campaign brought forward the lived experience of AHL environments; welcoming someone after a long journey, maintaining clean and comfortable spaces, preparing meals, supporting young people, and ensuring hostels run in a way that feels safe and dependable.
This created a direct line between role and purpose.
Messaging was kept simple and unembellished, reinforcing that the work is practical, but meaningful. It positioned AHL not as an abstract “purpose-driven” organisation, but as a place where contribution is visible and immediate, where people can see the difference they make in real time.
Structurally, the system was designed to operate across multiple layers:
Rather than fragmenting the message, the campaign held a consistent core: AHL as a place of care, stability, and opportunity, for both residents and employees. Static and motion assets worked together to reinforce this, balancing clarity of information with enough lived context for people to recognise themselves within the roles.
The result is a campaign that doesn’t attempt to elevate the work, it reflects it accurately, and lets that be enough.
NT
VIC
WA
QLD
NSW
SA
APS 5 – Hostel Manager
Results
Meta Data.