Our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)

Acknowledgement of Country

RAA acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we operate and pay our respects to Elders past and present, and emerging community leaders. We believe the cultures and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are significant to the past, present, and future of Australia and should be acknowledged and celebrated. We recognise the ongoing challenges and resilience of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and communities. We are dedicated to making a positive impact through continued collaboration and learning. We are committed to contributing to reconciliation in Australia and embedding this in the culture and operations of RAA.

About our RAP

Reconciliation Australia's RAP framework provides organisations with a structured approach to further the reconciliation movement in Australia.

At RAA, we're dedicated to learning about and developing relationships with the Traditional Owners of the land we live and work on, throughout South Australia and beyond. Through these learnings, we'll reflect, learn and take action to contribute to and support reconciliation across Australia. For us, this will mean taking action in all areas of our business throughout South Australia and Broken Hill.

Our Innovate RAP brings our purpose of 'Better for members, better for our community' to life through a structured and public commitment to reconciliation. It also aligns with our four key values, which will underpin our RAP.

Our key values

We are member obsessed

We do the right thing

We deliver together

We courageously challenge

As part our commitment to reconciliation, in our Innovate RAP we will increase our contribution in the following ways:

Building our workforce: Establish clear and accessible employment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including exploring flexible employment models across our organisation.
Embedding cultural awareness and truth telling: Develop culturally aware and and actively engaged employees and members who will contribute to reconciliation in SA and Broken Hill.
Innovative services and awareness programs: Investigate new products and services, and expand existing ones, that address the needs of all Australians, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Our sphere of influence: Create a ripple effect throughout SA with our suppliers and members, amplifying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, through stakeholder engagement.
Enhancing economic participation: Elevate Aboriginal voices and economic prosperity for First Nations organisations.

Download our RAP (PDF, 3.07MB)

RAA Board and Executive statement of support – Uluru Statement from the Heart

On behalf of the RAA Board and Executive team – as part of our commitment to reconciliation – we would like to express our support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its key reforms.

Inviting all Australians to create a better future, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was developed by more than 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates who gathered at Uluru in 2017. Our focus will be on education and engagement with our employees and our members to progress the principles of the statement.

We acknowledge that – as individuals and as an organisation – we work, live and play on what was, is and always will be Aboriginal land.
We’ve committed to learning more about the past 200 years and how they’ve impacted Aboriginal peoples and their cultures. We hope to use this increased understanding to make life better for the communities in which we operate.

We support the Statement’s call for truth-telling about our history and better alignment between Governments and First Nations peoples.

We strongly believe in the empowerment of First Nations peoples to make decisions on matters that impact their communities, peoples and future.

As part of our commitments, we are:

Guiding RAA's Reconciliation Action Plan, including promoting reconciliation through our sphere of influence and on our external platforms.
Proving cultural awareness training to our more than 1,200 employees.
Prioritising community partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned and controlled organisations that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Continuing our Licence to Work program to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to get their driver's licence.

We are grateful to live in a country that has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures at its foundations – one of the world’s oldest living cultures. We believe this should be celebrated.

Nick Reade
Chief Executive Officer
RAA

Peter Siebels
President and Chair
RAA

About our Innovate artwork

The narrative for the artwork created for RAA’s Reconciliation Action Plan is profoundly informed by the notion that Acknowledging Country is a key concept that underpins genuine and meaningful Reconciliation efforts. It also speaks to the core values of RAA.

The palette speaks to the relationship with the landscape upon which the RAA works, stretching across the state of South Australia. It references the elements of earth, sky, water and our beautiful South Australian coastline. The primary narrative is that of journey. Journey takes many forms; spiritual, cultural, physical, learning, and many more. Ultimately, journey is at the core business of RAA, and it seemed an appropriate link between the work RAA is doing in the reconciliation space and the artwork that reflects this.

I have used circles which feature heavily in my practice to speak to connection; to space, place, community and one another. I have referenced the Milky Way through the use of dots to speak to the relationship between our Celestial Stories and the landscape. These stories speak directly to Country; our very life force as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People more broadly. These dots also speak to the notion of Community and our connection with one another. ‘Journey Lines’ and kangaroo tracks also feature, again speaking to the concept of journey in its many forms; non-linear and undulating.

Artist acknowledgement

Elizabeth Close is a Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara woman, whose family links are to the communities of Pukutja and Amata in the APY. Elizabeth is a mid-career, Aboriginal Visual Artist living and working on Unceded Kaurna Country. She has spent the past 16 years crafting a dynamic and bold multi-disciplinary arts practice that speaks to her own personal Connection to Country, the concept of connection to place and space and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relationships with the landscape.

Elizabeth also seeks to create works that spark considered discussion and thought around the broader politics that underpin her practice. She works primarily in the mediums of 2D arts, large scale public art and digital media; thriving in experimentation, collaboration and challenge.