The 19-year-old, who is an unsworn member of the Australian Federal Police, was among eight young people from across Australia who were hand-picked to take part in the world's first indigenous youth leadership program to travel to Antarctica in December.

As a participant in the inaugural Outback to Icecap expedition, Miss Searle will spend more than a week on the icy continent to learn lessons about personal growth, self-confidence and resilience to take back to the police force.

The program is a joint project between not-for-profit organisation Yalari, which aims to provide educational opportunities to indigenous children, and adventurer Peter Bland, who is the only Australian to have trekked to both the north and south magnetic poles.

Mr Bland will lead trekkers on a journey which will see them climb a peak and camp overnight on ice as part of a year-long leadership program whose indigenous participants were the ''cream of the crop''.

''It's about them gaining a better understanding of themselves and a better understanding of their own traits as a leader so they can empower themselves and lead their communities,'' Mr Bland said.

Miss Searle grew up in the northern NSW town of Glen Innes amongst the Ngoorabul people. She later attended boarding school in Toowoomba thanks to a Yalari scholarship.

She came to Canberra after accepting a spot in the AFP's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainee program.

For the past year she has worked with the AFP, and most recently the ACT Policing operations centre, where she's responsible for the despatch of patrols to incidents throughout the territory.

Miss Searle imagined the trip would cement her belief that ''nothing's impossible'' and equip her with a variety of leadership tools to help empower her police force colleagues and other indigenous youngsters.

''I think confidence is a big thing, especially working for a law-enforcement agency,'' she said.

''Leadership skills are definitely something that's important in this line of work, whether it's making a decision in a time-critical environment or leading others.

''I think I've always had a passion for community input and I've always wanted to do something that's pro-active and where I think I can give back to the community.''

The AFP has moved to attract indigenous employees to the capital through its 12-month traineeship, as well as a targeted cadetship.

An ACT Policing spokesman said 13 employees who had identified themselves as indigenous worked in the territory's police force in the 2013-14 financial year.

Canberra telecommunications analyst Nicholas Kotrotsos, who was mentored by Mr Bland, will also take part in the Antarctica expedition as a mentor.