Aboriginal Cultural Education Hub

New resources aimed at improving safety for Aboriginal people on NSW waterways have been launched by Transport for NSW as part of NAIDOC week. The resources aim to promote and encourage safer boating behaviours and include a boating safety animation, Aboriginal Boating Safety Champion video and a downloadable colouring book with drawings by an Indigenous artist. These new resources will be a valuable asset for Boating Safety and Education Officers when interacting with community.

For more information please visit lifejacketwearit.com.au.

How we're celebrating NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week is held in the first full week of July (4-11) and this years theme is Heal Country! This calls for stronger measures to recognise, protect and maintain all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage.

Download the NAIDOC Week 2021 Toolkit here for further event ideas and suggestions.

See the table below to find out how Transport is celebrating!

Wondering what Transport is doing to support reconciliation? Quite a lot, actually!

We marked the beginning of National Reconciliation Week with a fabulous Transport-wide event, joined by over 2,000 people from across the state, either in person or online.

It was an opportunity to learn of the breadth and impact of programs Transport delivers in an effort to achieve reconciliation. A panel of passionate and talented Transport people gave the audience just a taste of the diverse range of initiatives and programs happening across the business.

The event also included a special address by one of Australia’s most prominent Aboriginal journalist, Karla Grant, who shared with us the story of her life and how she has become a well-known presenter in the media industry and called on everyone to take action, because reconciliation is everyone’s business.

National Sorry Day with Sydney Trains

Sydney Trains staff gathered to commemorate National Sorry Day on 26 May with an event at our Burwood office.

We met to recognise the significance of the day, remembering the injustice, suffering and grief experienced by the Stolen Generations.

After a stirring welcome to country, Sydney Trains Acting Chief Executive Pete Church delivered the keynote address, followed by emotional accounts by Uncle Michael (Widdy) and Aunty Fay, who shared their stories of being members of the Stolen Generations.

Finally, we all shared a feed and had a yarn about what National Reconciliation Week meant to us.

How we're celebrating National Reconciliation Week

This year, in alignment with the theme More than a word. Reconciliation takes action and moving from awareness to action, we want to challenge you to a call to action.

See the table below for what's available!

*Note events will continue to be updated.

Yarn Up: Connecting Transport’s Mob was an opportunity for our Aboriginal people to reconnect, develop their personal brand and share insights on taking care of spirit, mind and body.

Nearly 200 people from across NSW joined the event on 18 March either in person or online to hear from external speakers and to connect with colleagues.

As attendee Mark Champley described it, the event, which is normally held twice annually, but had been postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19, was ‘definitely worth the wait.’

See the highlights!

The future of branding is personal

The morning started with a conversation on personal branding from LinkedIn’s David Brophy and Transport’s Deputy Executive Director Reid Johnson. Not only is LinkedIn a great job board, attendees heard, it gives you the opportunity to showcase who you are and what your personal brand is.

LinkedIn tips from two experts

1. Get your picture taken! Your profile is seven times more likely to be viewed with a profile picture. What does a good profile picture look like? Make sure your face takes up at least 60% of the frame, the photo was taken recently and avoid distracting backgrounds.
2. What makes you unique? Find what makes you stand out and write your story on your profile.
3. Keep your experience up to date. Set aside some time to update your recent career experiences, the different projects you may have worked on and your most recent relevant skills.
4. Create meaningful connections. LinkedIn is the easiest way to grow your networks, but you should send requests to connect with purpose. You can do this by following up meetings, conversations or events with the person you would like to connect with.

Our Mob is stronger together

Joe Williams, proud Wiradjuri and Wolgalu man, shared his insights on how Aboriginal people are stronger together. With the world social distancing, he said, most Aboriginal people reduced their visits home to Country. Joe reminded the audience to go back, take the time to reconnect spiritually. “If we take care of our spirit, we will begin to heal our mind and body,” said Joe.

Attendee Rebecca Hyland said Joe’s session was an important reminder to visit home. “I cannot wait to plant my feet and my children’s feet on country,”

Our future is bright

The event wrapped up with Today Show entertainment reporter Brooke Boney. “She reminded us all to never give up on our pathway and continue rising despite the challenge,” said Rebecca.

Catch the action from the day

Below are the time codes for each session to help you find what you are looking for.

The Future of Branding is Personal: 14:55 - 41:19

Our mob is stronger together: 43:41 - 1:29:43

Our future is bright: 1:30:00 - 1:53:50

A second Yarn Up event is planned for September 2021.

We’re kicking off the first of our two-part series of the Aboriginal Staff Forum for 2021 with Yarn Up: Connecting Transport’s Mob. This event is a great opportunity for our Aboriginal colleagues to reconnect and have a yarn with mob.

This event will focus on two things you’ve told us were important – your career and your wellbeing.

• LinkedIn’s David Brophy and Transport’s Deputy Executive Director Reid Johnson will lead the conversation on why personal branding is important for everyone and get you started to making your career one of a kind.
• Proud Wiradjuri and Wolgalu man Joe Williams will guide us on how we can support each other and be comfortable talking about our mental health.
• The Today Show entertainment reporter, Brooke Boney, will share her story on how she has established herself as a successful journalist and where she plans to go in the future.

Registrations are open to all Aboriginal people to attend the event in person or join the conversation virtually.

Event details

Thursday 18 March

• 9am – 1pm: at International Convention Centre Sydney or
• 10am – 12pm: via live broadcast

Register for the event.

Help us connect all of Transport’s mob and share this invitation with your Aboriginal colleagues.

More events to come

Look out for an invitation to a second Aboriginal Staff forum event, to be held later this year. The new format aims to provide more accessibility for Aboriginal colleagues, an additional opportunity to connect each year and keep current on what’s happening across Transport.

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.

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.

The Yaegl people of the lower Clarence Valley and the Darkinjung people of the Central Coast will pilot a program to signpost Aboriginal Country using Aboriginal language, with six signs installed in Yaegl Country and six in Darkinjung Country.

Protocols for welcoming visitors to Country and offering safe passage have been part of Aboriginal culture for thousands of years.

The signs came about after an elder from Yaegl reached out to Garry Ferguson, Senior Aboriginal Engagement Specialist in North region, to say they wanted some signs to tell people whose country it is. This request was brought to the Traffic Engineering Services team, who initiated and led a collaborative project to deliver not only a sign for the Yaegl nation, but establishment of a TfNSW Signposting Country policy that would support the installation of these signs on State roads across NSW.

Successful collaboration with the community and multiple Transport groups across Infrastructure and Place, Regional and Outer Metropolitan and Customer Strategy and Technology, enabled Traffic Engineering Services to successfully deliver this pilot project.

Collaboration delivers multiple benefits

George Shearer, Principal Manager Aboriginal Engagement Team, said that there are so many benefits to installing the signs. “It recognises Aboriginal people as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land, and it informs the wider community with insights of the world’s oldest continuing culture.”

The program is also helping to achieve the Aboriginal Languages Act 2017, which seeks to promote, reawaken, nurture and grow Aboriginal languages across NSW.

More importantly, says George, “It’s educating people, supporting someone to be proud of who they are, it’s helping strengthen their connection and cultural identity, and improving wellbeing that will help our communities.”

Commenting on the process, David Lance, from the Traffic Engineering team encouraged others who had an idea to do something to help achieve reconciliation, to reach out to other teams.

“Often people feel uncomfortable and worry about doing the wrong thing, so they do nothing,” said David. “A couple of white fellas couldn’t write this policy on their own. A big part of this has been us getting to know more about the Aboriginal culture. It has been a really valuable experience for us.”

Blueprint for future signage

Once the pilot is completed, the Traffic Engineering team’s Signposting Country Technical Manual will be a blueprint that can be used by any team in Transport, providing guidelines for incorporating Acknowledgement of Country signage into the delivery of major projects, or when replacing existing signage.

Congratulations to all involved who have worked on this important initiative, including Kellee McGilvray, David Lance, Jon Avery and Phil Oliver from Technical Services and George Shearer, Garry Ferguson and David Nalder from the Aboriginal Engagement team.

A special thanks to North region teams (ROM - Community and Place branch) for their support in delivering on the initiative, and RAP sponsors of the project Jason Gordon and Peter Church.

See the signs!

Look out for the signs when you’re heading up the north coast this summer, and remember to respect and recognise the long-standing Aboriginal culture of the country you are travelling through.

Darkinjung signs

• M1 Pacific Motorway, northbound – north of the Hawkesbury River near Cheero Point (Jolls Bridge)
• Empire Bay Drive, northbound – north of Wards Hill Road at Empire Bay
• Pacific Highway, eastbound – south of Walmsley Road at Ourimbah
• M1 Pacific Motorway, southbound – north of the Warnervale (Sparks Road) interchange at Bushells Ridge
• Scenic Drive, southbound – south of the Pacific Highway near Doyalson
• Pacific Highway, southbound – south of Montefiore Street, south of Catherine Hill Bay

Yaegl signs

• M1 Pacific Motorway southbound – Chatsworth Island (early 2021)
• M1 Pacific Motorway – north of Black Snake Creek, east of Grafton (early 2021)
• Big River Way, northbound – north of Ulmarra ferry access
• Big River Way, southbound – south of Tucabia-Tyndale Road
• M1 Pacific Motorway, southbound on-ramp – Yamba interchange
• M1 Pacific Motorway, southbound – Maclean interchange

This initiative contributes to a number of the agreed actions set out in our Reconciliation Action Plan including:

• Action 9: Increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supplier diversity to support improved economic and social outcomes
• Action 10: Promote respect for Aboriginal heritage and increase inclusion of Aboriginal art.
• Action 11: Embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander co-design principles across Transport Cluster Projects

View the original article here.

In mid-November, Transport for NSW celebrated NAIDOC week by hosting a Trivia event at Doltone House. On Wednesday 25th November, the two winning teams from trivia had to opportunity to attend the winner’s breakfast with special guest the Hon. Linda Burney MP. Attendees at the breakfast included over 30 colleagues across Sydney Trains, People and Culture, and Regional and Outer Metropolitan.

The Hon. Linda Burney MP is a proud Wiradjuri woman and a prominent Aboriginal leader, spending over 30 years working in Aboriginal affairs. Linda was the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the NSW Parliament and the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the Australian House of Representatives.

The breakfast was an amazing opportunity to hear from Linda about her personal journey, her challenges and triumphs. Linda spoke on a personal level to everyone present, sharing insights into her childhood, family and career. The key takeaway that was emphasised throughout the talk was to show compassion, stay connected, and do your best for the people counting on you.

It was certainly a rewarding experience for all.

Transport people right across the state were proud to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements and to recognise their contributions to our business, country and society, during or around NAIDOC Week 2020. View the full article here.

NAIDOC-wrapped bus

Members of our STA team unveiled a NAIDOC-wrapped bus and held a smoking ceremony to welcome it to the fleet. The bus is now tracing traditional songlines for customers on routes through Macquarie Park, Ryde, Gladesville, Epping, CBD, Parramatta and Olympic Park. Watch the video below:

Smoking ceremony at Central Station

The NSW TrainLink event started with a smoking ceremony, an ancient custom to welcome people into a camp, ward off bad spirits, acknowledge ancestors and pay respect to the land and sea of Country. Chief Executive, Pete Allaway, told guests how important NAIDOC Week is to NSW TrainLink, you can watch the video of Pete’s address here . Guest speaker Uncle Shane Phillips, CEO of Tribal Warrior Aboriginal Corporation, with cultural connections to Bundjalung, Wonnarua and Bidjigal communities, gave a very engaging and informative address, you can watch the video of Uncle Shane’s address here.

A deadly trivia event

Over 200 colleagues went head-to-head in teams to test their knowledge at the annual Transport NAIDOC Week Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander themed trivia event. Congratulations to the winning teams of Sydney Trains, People and Culture and Regional and Outer Metropolitan colleagues, whose win has earned them a seat at a winners’ breakfast, with special guest the Hon. Linda Burney MP, later in November.

The naming of Mindyarra: our new regional rail maintenance facility

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.’ The name was chosen in collaboration with the Regional Rail Project’s Aboriginal Working Group and representatives from Aboriginal organisations, and represents the work that will occur at the facility and the work we’re doing to create a future of healing with the Traditional Owners of the land. Watch the video here.

Aboriginal language in conversation

Region North partnered with the Aboriginal Engagement team of CST to host an online discussion panel with respected guests Professor John Maynard, Dr Ray Kelly and Gary Williams. The thought -provoking conversation explored the relationship between Aboriginal and language and how all people can assist in language revitalisation.

Wirradoo bush food and medicine garden

The Wirradoo bush food and medicine garden opened in NAIDOC Week. It will grow as a living legacy of the strong partnership between the people of Boggabilla and Toomelah in western NSW and the Regional and Outer Metropolitan team that worked on the Newell Highway Upgrade. Working with community elders and stakeholders, a hectare was set aside for the garden at Boggabilla Central School with 6 zones that will make up the final garden, each named after a culturally significant site.

Point to Point Commission’s bush tucker challenge

Collecting and preparing food, understanding native ingredients and sharing recipes are all a part of the First People’s rich culture. Point to Point colleague, mother (and great cook!) Tressa Jackson took up the division’s challenge to bake her own traditional damper bread, with the help of her adorable daughters. See how it’s done, and get the recipe:

Our inaugural Aboriginal Maritime Safety Plan

We launched a plan to prevent boating fatalities and serious injuries involving Aboriginal people. The plan supports the vision of our Reconciliation Action Plan 2019-2021, especially in how it seeks to build and strengthen relationships and celebrate Aboriginal maritime culture. Learn more about the Aboriginal Maritime Safety Plan and watch the launch video:

Wiradjuri Wheels hit the road

We officially launched Wiradjuri Wheels, a community transport project to help the youth of Wellington and the nearby Aboriginal village of Nanima. The project employs local drivers to pick up kids from school and drop them off in and around the Wellington area – a much needed service in an area with limited public transport options. The Transport Access Regional Partnerships Grants program (TARP) provided funding to the project which will see 10 drivers to get their Medium Rigid License. In exchange, the drivers will donate at least 40 driving hours, using the bus owned by the local Aboriginal Lands Council.

Redfern artwork – Always

Sydney Trains colleagues came together to celebrate NAIDOC Week and to launch the ‘Always’ artwork, by Aboriginal artist, Reko Rennie. Look out for it if you’re travelling through Redfern. Watch the video below: