Innovate RAP Annual Highlights
March 2020-March 2021
Message from RAP Champion
I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respects to
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, and to Elders both past and present.
In 2020 we launched our second Innovate RAP, which built on the experiences and learnings from our 2017 Innovate RAP and our 2014 Reflect RAP.
Throughout the last year we have focussed on building relationships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders in the communities where we operate. In early 2021 we undertook a program of engagement to explore opportunities to progress meaningful reconciliation initiatives in partnership with our local stakeholders.
We maintained strong partnerships with organisations in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane that support positive education and employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and young people.
We continued to provide cultural awareness training to all of our employees to increase awareness and understanding of First Nations cultures and histories within our workplace.
As a business we progressed initiatives to publicly acknowledge and celebrate Aboriginal culture and heritage including the installation of Acknowledgement of Country plaques in our offices, public art along the WestConnex corridor and the influence of Aboriginal culture and heritage in the Urban Design and Landscaping of the West Gate Tunnel Project.
Henry Bryne, Group Executive Victoria and Strategy
Transurban Reconciliation Action Plan Annual Highlights
March 2020
May 2020
June 2020
July 2020
August 2020
October 2020
November 2020
December 2020
January 2021
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• National Reconciliation Week 2020 In This Together
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• Due to COVID 19 restrictions we were unable to hold physical events to celebrate NRW
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• Instead we curated a week of content to encourage employee engagement
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• Content included articles and videos aligning with the 2020 theme 'in this together'
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• We encouraged our employees to participate in virtual events hosted by community organisations and our RAP partners Ventia and King Wood Mallesons
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• RAP Working Group Members Mike and Nathan shared their reconciliation journey with our business through a video presentation
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• WestConnex M8 opened
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• 3.3% workforce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
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• $26,145,487 procured from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business
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• Three Aboriginal artists engaged to create artworks through the Canal to Creek Public Art Program
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• Virtual Acknowledgement of Country developed through partnership with the KARI foundation to support the virtual opening
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• STEM Drones to Boomerangs virtual tutorial presented by the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (NSW AECG)
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• NorthConnex opened
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• $25,000,000 procured from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business
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• Delivered the Virtual Acknowledgement of Country recently developed with the KARI foundation, to support the virtual opening
* postponed to
November due to COVID
Relationships
Engaging through COVID-19
Restrictions implemented by State Governments as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response impacted our usual face-to-face engagement programs. Instead we used digital platforms to interact with our communities and stakeholders.
Engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders
We recognise that building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships based on trust and respect takes time and requires ongoing engagement.
Acknowledging Country and culture in the virtual opening of WestConnex M8 and NorthConnex
In early 2021 we embarked on a program of engagement with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders to inform the development of Guiding Principles for future engagement and to explore opportunities for future reconciliation initiatives. We focused our engagement on Traditional Owner groups and organisations that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people impacted by toll debt.
In Sydney we held virtual events to celebrate the opening of two of our major assets, WestConnex M8 and NorthConnex. Under normal circumstances we would have engaged Traditional Owners to perform a Welcome to Country to mark the opening of these events.
Instead, we collaborated with our long-term partners the KARI Foundation and the New South Wales Education Consultative Group to ensure we acknowledged both country and culture in the virtual events.
Due to restrictions all of the meetings had to be held virtually and engagement took longer than originally anticipated. The operations of some community organisations were impacted more heavily than others, with some operating at reduced capacity and others having to suspend operations entirely. This meant that engagement with some organisations has been put on hold until they are back to capacity.
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• We engaged the KARI foundation to perform an Acknowledgement of Country for WestConnex M8 and NorthConnex. We filmed the performances on site then published them to our digital platforms to support the virtual opening events
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• We engaged facilitators from the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group to develop a virtual STEM tutorial titled Drones to Boomerangs. The tutorial was uploaded to the WestConnex M8 STEM space to support the virtual opening
Respect
Celebrating NAIDOC Week
We celebrated NAIDOC Week by publishing online content throughout the week based on the 2020 theme Always Was, Always Will Be. We encouraged our employees to learn about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history of their local area by participating in events within their community.
Due to restrictions we were only able to hold a NAIDOC Week event at our Brisbane office. We engaged Traditional Owners to perform a Welcome to Country, unveiled our Acknowledgement of Country plaque and invited our partner QATSIF to provide an overview of our Paiban Karumba STEM Scholarship Program.
We lit up our assets to celebrate NAIDOC Week in consultation with the NAIDOC Committee and promoted via our social media channels.
Cultural safety
Acknowledging Traditional Owners
Respecting and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures is an important part of the way we do business. We are committed to creating a workplace where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees feel comfortable expressing their heritage. As part of this commitment we have made online Cultural Competency training available to all of our employees to increase awareness and understanding of First Nations cultures and histories within our workplace. The program is provided by Aboriginal-owned business Arrilla and has been completed by about 30% of our employees so far. We also offered additional training to our RAP Working Group with one of our members completing a workshop through Aboriginal owned provider The Black Card.
Following consultation with Traditional Owner groups, we engaged Wathaurong Glass to design and create Acknowledgement of Country plaques for our head offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Wathaurong Glass is a not-for-profit business owned by Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative which is an Aboriginal community control organisation. The company is structured to ensure all profit flows back to the community of Wathaurong.
Due to restrictions we were unable to hold an event to unveil the plaque at our Sydney office and had to delay the installation of the plaque for our Melbourne office.
Respect
Supporting education and employment outcomesSTEM scholarships help students Dream Big
We are committed to developing strong partnerships with organisations that support positive education and employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Throughout the year we continued to support our partners in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland to deliver a range of community programs. We also supported three Aboriginal organisations through our grant program.
We developed the Paiabun Kurumba STEM Scholarship Program through our partnership with the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation (QATSIF). The program provides students with financial support to help remove barriers to completing high school as well unique work experience and mentoring opportunities in engineering and technology.
Some of our planned face-to-face activities were impacted or postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Our partners:
Paiabun Kurumba means 'Dream Big' in the local Yuggera language. Just like the name of the scholarship suggests, we want students to see where their future could lead them and have access to opportunities and experiences in the real world.
During FY20 we provided scholarships to 11 students through the program. The face-to-face work experience was impacted due to restrictions, so we held virtual Lunch and Learn events as an alternative.
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