Last Thursday marked the beginning of National Reconciliation Week across Australia. This year’s theme ‘More than a Word’ encourages all Australians to be braver and take more substantive action to Reconciliation with their First Nations communities.
Transdev proudly supports our First Nations communities. The launch of Transdev Australasia’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2019 was an important step in the company’s diversity journey.
The RAP – which was developed in consultation with the Reconciliation Working Group and Reconciliation Australia and endorsed by Reconciliation Australia in 2019 – is a critical framework guiding the organization as it increases its efforts to foster collaborative relationships with Australia’s First Peoples on whose land they operate.
Transdev Australia has applied the principles of the Aboriginal Participation Policy to their employment and procurement activities since 2018, supporting:
- Employment opportunities for Aboriginal people within Aboriginal owned businesses
- Employment opportunities for Aboriginal people within non-Aboriginal owned businesses
- Sustainable growth of Aboriginal-owned businesses by driving demand via government procurement of goods and services.
There is still a long way to go and the organization will continue to work with their community partners and First Nations employees to guide further action and change.
The first RAP also showed the importance of more community-led, ‘grapevine’ recruitment strategies to attract and retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job seekers which it is now implementing.
*Smoking ceremonies are an ancient custom among Aboriginal Australians in which native plants are burnt to produce smoke and acknowledge the ancestors and pay respect to the land, waters and sea of country. The smoke is believed to have healing and cleansing properties.
This year Transdev Australasia shares the perspectives of Ella and Chloe, two proud First Nations Transdev employees, who are members of our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) committee. They share what Reconciliation means to them and their input into the RAP.