Taking steps toward reconciliation
Many of the transport routes we use today – from rail lines, to roads, to water crossings – follow the traditional Songlines, trade routes and ceremonial paths in Country.
Transport’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 2019 - 2021, pays respect to the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as custodians of the lands where we work. We developed it to make a positive difference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in areas such as employment, empowerment and economic development, and to enhance the cultural understanding of our non-Indigenous workforce.
Despite the crisis of the pandemic this year, which has delivered a few bumps on the road to reconciliation, our teams have not stopped building and strengthening relationships, celebrating culture and creating employment and career development opportunities.
We are proud to say we are making great strides with our RAP and achieving our goals.
Here are some of this year’s highlights.
Celebrating National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week
National Reconciliation Week 2020 marked twenty years of shaping Australia's journey towards a more just, equitable and reconciled nation. At Transport, a special livestreamed webisode featuring renowned journalist and proud Kamilaroi man, Ray Martin AM, was watched by more than 3,000 Transport colleagues, and teams across Transport identifed actions they could take to contribute to our National Reconciliation Action Plan. See the webisode .
During NAIDOC Week 2020 we celebrated and marked the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with a NAIDOC wrapped bus, smoking ceremonies, NAIDOC trivia and many other events. See the pics .
Launching the Aboriginal Maritime Safety Plan
We developed and launched an Aboriginal Maritime Safety Plan, to prevent boating fatalities and serious injuries. The plan was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal community, to build and strengthen relationships and celebrate Aboriginal maritime culture.
Recruiting more Aboriginal people to Transport
Our targeted recruitment campaigns in Sydney Trains have seen more than 16 train guard roles, 16 customer service attendants, 8 trainee signallers and 20 apprentice positions open for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Consulting with people on the RAP
We held four workshops (with around 80 participants per session), which provided the opportunity for people from across Transport to work together on plans to implement our RAP.
Aboriginal naming of Transport assets
Promoting and nurturing Aboriginal languages across NSW is important in respecting and celebrating culture. We announced the naming of our new Regional Rail Maintenance Facility at Dubbo. It’s named Mindyarra (pronounced Min-dga—rra), a Wiradjuri word, which means ‘to fix or to repair.’ Watch the video here.
Launching new high visibility safety vests
Our new safety vests feature the Aboriginal serpent design. These designs are unique to Transport and acknowledge our Aboriginal heritage, commitment to reconciliation and the significant work that our Aboriginal teams do in our communities, every day. Watch the video:
Increasing Aboriginal supplier diversity
Greater Sydney had a hand in the increase of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supplier diversity, supporting the Aboriginal economy through its Sydney Yard Access Bridge, Tunnel Station Excavation and Central Station Mainworks projects.
Mentoring to build respectful relationships
In August we graduated our fourth cohort of mentees from our Aboriginal Career Development and Mentoring Program, which brings Aboriginal employees together with senior Transport leaders to support their progress into management and senior roles. Seventy employees have now completed the program since it was launched in 2016. As at our graduation, 50% of mentees graduating had moved into more senior roles since starting the program. Find out more .
Like to see more highlights?
For more highights of our RAP achievements in 2020, download our Reconciliation Action Plan 2020 wrap up document.
What's next?
In 2021, we will continue to deliver on our current RAP and start to build our plans for the next RAP at Transport. To make it this far in our journey to reconciliation it has taken the commitment of many people within Transport as well as communities across NSW. To everyone who has contributed, please know that every positive action counts – no matter if big or small - and we are grateful for everything you do.
