Our update on reconciliation
Written by Fiona Gazzard, Executive Leader People and Culture
Close The Gap Day is a national day of action to pledge support for achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030. This year the theme was “We nurture our culture for our future, and our culture nurtures us". Staffwere encouraged to joinmore than 250,000 people who had taken action for Indigenous health equality by signing a petition which calls on the Australian Government to commit to providing adequate and long-term financial recourses to achieve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality. While we couldn't physically be together for National Reconciliation Week, the RWG organised a Virtual Morning Tea in recognition of this important week. Members of management, staff and participants all joined the Virtual Morning Tea through Zoom to acknowledge the shared histories, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as part of our commitment to reconciliation in Australia. This event also saw the launch of a new Online Indigenous Cultural Awareness training program for all staff, through Your Mob Learning. The training program gives us all a deeper understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and how it impacts the workplace, community and our approach as an organisation. It has also assisted us as an organisation, identify cultural gaps providing the knowledge on how to influence and contribute to Indigenous reconciliation in the workplace and wider community.
Every edition, we reflect on the steps our organisation has taken in realising our vision for reconciliation. Since our last update, we have continued to encourage staff members from all areas of the organisation play their part in championing the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with the view to strengthen our relationships with Indigenous peoples in the areas in which we operate. In late 2019, the organisation formed a new RAP Working Group (RWG) to progress our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and to develop RLOA's second phase ‘Innovate’. The RWG meet bi-monthly and are responsible for ensuring the deliverables agreed to in the ‘Innovate’ RAP are met. Part of the role of the RWG is to also facilitate opportunities for employees and leaders to engage in cultural learning opportunities and events. Our 'Innovate' RAP at the time of this publication, is currently under review from Reconciliation Australia. Unfortunately, due to complications arising from COVID-19, we were unable to move forward with our planned in-person events this year for National Close The Gap Day (19 March 2020) and National Reconciliation Week (27 May - 3 June 2020).
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