The Capital Workforce Solutions Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) outlines the journey in bringing a sense of wellbeing, togetherness and commitment, in providing strategies for creating opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
It is vitally important to realise that we will all be judged not by the eloquence of what we say, but by our actions associated with implementing the ideas, emotions and outcomes of the Capital Workforce Solutions Reconciliation Plan.
Our vision for reconciliation is:
A corporate Australia that recognises the importance that Australia’s First peoples have in shaping the foundation of what it means to be Australian.
A corporate Australia that provides understanding, acceptance and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
To forster a corporate culture that values the health, wellbeing and acceptance of all peoples.
To influence, demonstrate and recognise inclusive behaviour for corporate change and growth.
Just as a lighthouse offers a direction for a safe journey, the RAP is our guidance to making a real, positive and tangible difference.
My personal commitment to reconciliation is unwavering, and is driven by my experiences as a kid growing up on a farm in Baradine NSW in the Kamilaroi Nation. As children of all cultures, we played, laughed and learned together. However as we grew older an insidious community undercurrent drew cultural barriers that forever changed our friendships and our sense of community on lines of Aboriginality and background.
My Aboriginal friends did not experience the same opportunities in life, and now health and wellbeing are the cost. I now look at the opportunities available to the kids of today and am disheartened to see that some of the attitudes and barriers of the past are still polluting the Australian community of today. I will make a difference by my actions, and I expect that my friends, employees and associates have the same commitment to reconciliation. If they don’t, then they are working with the wrong team.
Our commitment to reconciliation is to understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, identify opportunities in employment and organisational change, and make a difference to our lives and the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
I asked an Aboriginal friend “What can I do to make a difference?” and was simply told “Start by just doing something; just don’t sit on your hands”. To my friend Russell, this is the start of my ‘something’.
The first Capital Workforce Solutions Reconciliation Action Plan would not have been possible without the drive of Glenn Vermeulen, the commitment of Clare Butler, and the wisdom and knowledge of William (Benny) Hodges a proud descendant of Aboriginal (Waanji-Garawa / Kaureg) and Torres Strait Islander (Bam Le’ – Kulkalgal) heritage.
Building long and lasting relationships is an important first step for CWS in our plan towards reconciliation. CWS will work in collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples to inform and motivate corporate Australia to recognise their Reconciliation responsibilities.
CWS recognises past practices of early colonisation and the effect these have had on Australia’s First Nations peoples and the holistic impact it had on Australian society. As an Australian business CWS recognises the diversity of Australian First Nations peoples (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) and will endeavour to incorporate its values and principles of respect in all of its business.
CWS recognises the opportunity reconciliation offers for us to grow as individuals, as an organisation and the roles we play in the broader community. As a business CWS practices leadership to create and implement positive opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples in corporate Australia and in the wider community.