NAIDOC Week celebrates and recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This year’s theme – ‘Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!’ encourages all of us to commit to driving systemic change and strengthening relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
During the week, RA members have been highlighting how our industry acknowledges, respects and celebrates Indigenous culture in the delivery of projects and by working with communities.
- BMD Group highlighted the story of a Gija man from Western Australia’s Kimberley region who was involved in the construction of the original Bow River Bridge built in 1965, and the new bridge built by BMD. Through strong community consultation and working closely with our client, BMD retained a portion of the existing bridge’s mid-section due to its connection to the community and it is now being used as a fishing platform.
- John Holland engaged Danielle Mate, a contemporary Aboriginal artist, to help celebrate First Nations culture in the Blue Mountains – part of a wider workplace program involving cultural walks and presentations by local Aboriginal rangers. Danielle developed a concept and then consulted with Darug Elder Chris Tobin before painting a mural on a signals hut, which tells the story of the rail line traversing a beautiful mountain landscape.
- Team members at Seymour Whyte hosted educational talks on site, tasted traditional cuisine and enjoyed didgeridoo and dance performances.
- CIMIC Group’s CPB Contractors is marking the week by learning more about the traditional languages and places on the lands where their team members work and live.
- UGL‘s Broadmeadow site has a 120-year history, with a unique team who design, build, and maintain freight trains – the only operation with this capability in Australia. The on-site team is taking action to create a more inclusive work environment, while creating recruitment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders and fostering cultural awareness. Recently, team members on the site also completed cultural awareness training.
- At GHD, many team members participated in a panel session, curated by GHD’s own internal Indigenous Network, to explore how we can all be an ally across our communities, and some are gearing up to participate in Clothing The Gaps’ Virtual Run | Walk Event.
- In Victoria, the Level Crossing Removal Project celebrated the contribution of Indigenous-owned business Wamarra to the delivery of the project.
- In Perth, Clough engaged Melissa Spillman (Woods) from Maarakool Art, a Noongar Aboriginal Artist to design a new Clough mural at the organisation’s new offices. The mural acknowledges and celebrates the traditional owners of the land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. The background colours are representative of the Land, Clough and Water.
- Transport for NSW team members in the Aboriginal Employment team and Entry Level Programs have taken part in Indigenous Australian Engineering Schools (IAES) workshops this week to give students in the program a behind-the-scenes look at TfNSW’s safety operations and support their pathway to engineering.
Find out more about NAIDOC Week and how you can get involved at https://www.naidoc.org.au/