NAIDOC Week 2021
Wilson Security has committed to bettering the relationship between our business and Indigenous communities, businesses and people we work with. Supporting Indigenous dates of significance is a key part of improving those relationships.
NAIDOC Week is an annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's history, culture, and achievements. This year we celebrate the key message of this significant time being, "Heal Country!".
Unfortunately, many of our offices have had to postpone festivities until it is safe to gather as a business due to COVID-19 restrictions across the country. Our QLD and SA offices were fortunate to celebrate NAIDOC Week with a number of events and activities to raise awareness amongst our staff and clients. Read on to find out how we celebrated.
At our QLD office, a Turrbal Tribe Naming Ceremony was held to gift names to the meeting rooms at our Brisbane office. Recognising the Turrbal Tribe as the original owners and custodians of Meeanjin (Brisbane) and as a show of respect for traditional laws and customs, Wilson Security formally requested from the Turrbal Tribe to gift names for its Brisbane Office boardrooms.
Wilson Security (QLD) hosted members of the Turrbal Tribe, comprising direct descendants of the original owners and custodians of Meeanjin on Friday 9th July for the much-anticipated boardroom naming ceremony.
The Welcome to Countries ceremony was delivered by Songwoman Maroochy Barambah who is an elder of the Turrbal people. Her Welcome to Country included a traditional song, a snippet of the Australian National Anthem in Turrbal language, and a blessing song in Turrbal language, while her daughter Baringa Kukoyi delivered a short speech on the Turrbal people's history
The names gifted by the Turrbal Tribe for our boardrooms are:
- Yadeni yutta (yadeni means to advance and yutta means first so the combination is interpreted as leadership)
- Murrumba nurul (this means very good soul which is interpreted as having integrity)
These words have been selected to reflect elements of Wilson Security’s values and the spirituality of each word’s meaning permeates our work environment.
The Welcome to Country ceremony includes a traditional song, a short speech on the Turrbal people's history, a snippet of the Australian National Anthem in Turrbal language, and a blessing song in Turrbal language.
In South Australia, our team were able to gather for morning tea catered by Something Wild to enjoy traditional indigenous food. This time was used to gather as a group to reflect on what NAIDC Week means to our nation. Our SA office also displayed the NAIDoc Week Posters throughout the office.
Although other states were unable to participate, we used this opportunity to recognise and reflect on NAIDOC Week by displaying NAIDOC Week posters around our offices and changing our email signatures to the NAIDOC artwork and logo to increase external awareness.
