How We're Engaging Indigenous Communities to Foster Reconciliation and Transformation

Wilson Security recognises the need to take decisive and deliberate action to support Indigenous communities nationwide.

Since 2014, we've adopted various initiatives showing how gradual steps can achieve sustainable change. Since committing to this journey, Wilson Security has been proud of our achievements, but it wasn't always easy.

We have learned that reconciliation is a journey everyone is on. In sharing our story, we hope others can leverage our experience and may be inspired to challenge what 'was' always done or thought to create change that translates to action that yields results.

A key learning we applied to implementing our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), is to align our reconciliation efforts to our core business operations and values. This creates better cut through with the key stakeholders in the organisation and provides an existing framework that is already understood and practised in the business.

Our other key learnings were:

Reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement needed its own portfolio and a position dedicated to driving it in a large organisation. Individuals can bring people along on the journey, but expecting people to drive change in addition to their existing role doesn't work well.
Data and reporting are crucial to understanding how we are tracking against our commitments and influencing the decision-makers.

The initiatives we have adopted in the more recent period of this journey cover five areas:

Building a foundation and framework for engagement
Education and training
Cultural acknowledgement and celebration
Partnerships
Community development

Building a foundation and framework for engagement

Creating a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)

Our most important step was creating a solid foundation for greater engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This took the form of a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2017.

Endorsed by Reconciliation Australia at the Innovate level, the RAP gave us a clear framework to focus on:

Increasing the number of Indigenous employees at Wilson Security.
Fostering supportive work environments for our Indigenous employees.
Educating our team members on Indigenous culture so that we can learn about and appreciate it.
Improving our relationships with external Indigenous organisations and communities by engaging with them and identifying ways in which we can provide support and opportunities.

We made great strides with the support of the RAP; it helped us to:

Develop thirteen Memorandum of Understandings with various Traditional Owner groups about how Wilson Security and communities can work together to keep communities safe.
We spent in excess of $4 million with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.
We now employ more than 160 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across our network of passionate teams.

This foundation for greater engagement is doing its job by creating real opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples nationwide; but this was just the beginning.

Building on our progress

The development of our second RAP sees the Wilson Group reaffirm our commitment to reconciliation with a renewed focus from all our Australian operating companies.

We have changed the structure of our RAP Working Group and included an executive-level RAP Steering Committee within our Group Structure. This change will empower us to act on key learnings from our first RAP.

The focus will be to define clear roles and a portfolio that strengthens our initiatives. We want to offer more Indigenous employment opportunities, increase retention through cultural change and create a living, breathing document that guides and elevates our decision-making.

Education and training

Over the past decade, we've worked to improve outcomes for Indigenous people nationwide. Core to this has been identifying obstacles – and creating opportunities for – education, training, and employment.

Indigenous Engagement Officers

Retaining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff is equally as important as recruiting; if the structure and culture aren't right, we know we will struggle to retain qualified people.

To address this, we invested in 3 Indigenous Engagement Officers (IEO's) dedicated to ensuring Indigenous people are supported along their employment journey with Wilson Security - from onboarding new employees to mentoring and supporting career development to conducting exit interviews.

Our IEO's are based in WA, Qld and NSW, and to ensure their success, they are embedded in the operational teams.

Making Tracks

Our specialised career pathways program, Making Tracks, funds training and licencing opportunities for Indigenous candidates.

Participants are financially supported to complete a Certificate II in Security Operations and to obtain their security licence. If they do, they're guaranteed a role within the company.

The program goes beyond the learnings of security training alone, with additional education providing an opportunity to develop the participants skills and knowledge to better themselves professionally and personally - sometimes having a life-changing impact.

A Site Manager working at a Federal Government location on behalf of Wilson Security in Townsville completed Making Tracks in 2021. The Manager is a highly respected community member and took on a mentoring role with his peers. Since starting with Wilson Security, he has encouraged 10 Indigenous people to gain their security licence and join the business.

Wilson Group - Making Tracks Training Program from Wilson Group on Vimeo.

Reflecting on Making Tracks, the Manager says:

"Our people don't need a handout; we need a hand up. Wilson Security gave me their hand – it's now time to pay it forward".

In 2022, 55 people participated in the program in cities across Australia – the largest cohort to complete the program so far.

Indigenous scholarships

Wilson Security has a bursary program with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and RMIT University in Victoria. These scholarships help Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students with their studies and related costs.

Cultural celebrations and acknowledgement

We seek to foster an environment that values and promotes the rich cultures, traditions, knowledge systems and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples. Cultural awareness has become a core part of this pursuit.

Employee cultural engagement

A core learning from our first RAP is that building cultural awareness within our organisation is ongoing. Since then, we have designed an online cultural awareness module that 86% of staff completed, and we will refresh this with a goal to see 90% completion across the Group.

Additionally, 190 leaders throughout our business completed face-to-face training by Reuben Berg of RJHB Consultancy; this provides a foundation for stronger leadership regarding what reconciliation means in principle and practice.

Annual Reconciliation & NAIDOC Week celebrations

Our annual NAIDOC Week events are an incredible opportunity to create a focal point in time to ground our celebration and acknowledgement of Indigenous cultures. These events have involved Elders across the country coming to educate and inspire employees and their families.

We also use this time as an opportunity to take stock of our efforts and initiatives, with surveys helping us build our understanding of what staff want to see from our focus on reconciliation. This acknowledges the role that data and real conversations can have in guiding our reconciliation efforts.

Partnerships

Partnerships are a pivotal way for us to connect with organisations and companies that share our values for Indigenous engagement. These partnerships have taught Wilson Security that to develop long-term and meaningful engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses; our relationships must be relational, not transactional.

Wilson Security is a member of Supply Nation who provide Australia's largest national directory of verified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses. This membership commenced in 2016, and since then, we have spent over $10 million with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses to procure security services, uniforms, employment partnerships, vehicles, office supplies, medical assessments and commercial cleanings.

We have a multi-year partnership with the KARI Foundation to deliver programs for Aboriginal women. This partnership culminates in the Aboriginal Wellbeing Conference, where women are empowered to share experiences and connect. The KARI Foundation is an incredible not-for-profit organisation that builds connections and strength amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Community development

Our final foundation for fostering reconciliation and transformation is simple community development and engagement; this means listening to and hearing voices from across the country. As part of this, we have established a strong relationship with:

The Larrakia Nation in Darwin
The Whadjuk Noongar people in Perth
The Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people in Melbourne
The Turrbal Jagera people in Brisbane

These relationships help us deliver programs to strengthen our community ties and provide a security service that understands the local TO community and its needs. We will use this as an inspiration and guide for developing closer community connections nationwide.

Reflecting on Progress and Looking Forward: Wilson Security's Continuing Commitment to Reconciliation and Transformation.

Our National Indigenous Engagement Manager, Chris Davies, has the following to say:

"We are at an exciting stage in our reconciliation journey. We have achieved much in the last few years, but with the imminent launch of our new RAP, we are about to supercharge our results.

Our RAP will challenge us, but with the backing of our executive Steering Committee and the investments in resources, policies, and community engagement, we are confident we can deliver on our commitments.

We are taking practical steps that will go a small way to closing the gap in employment, economic, health and education metrics in the Indigenous community. These steps ensure that we live up to our mission to "create enduring value"."

In conclusion, we are proud of our strides at Wilson Security since our initial commitment to reconciliation in 2014. We have learnt, evolved, and matured in our understanding of how best to engage Indigenous communities to foster reconciliation and transformation.

We've discovered that fostering reconciliation isn't just about ticking off the boxes; it's about aligning our efforts with our core business operations, continually learning, and implementing sustainable changes that have a long-term impact.

Through our dedication and commitment, we aim to inspire more businesses to challenge the status quo and create transformative change that goes beyond the surface and becomes embedded in the organisation's fabric.

At Wilson Security, we recognise that our actions, big or small, can make a difference and contribute to the broader goal of closing the gap. As we continue this journey, we encourage everyone to follow our progress and join us in our efforts to create enduring value for the Indigenous community.

To follow developments and announcements as we continue building reconciliation efforts, follow us on LinkedIn.

Written by Jaime Kendler-Arnold