National Reconciliation Week 2022
7th June 2022
Last week in Australia we marked National Reconciliation Week. During this important week we celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and pay our respects to First Australians. It has been a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia, not just during National Reconciliation Week, but every day.
Here’s how we paid our respects to First Nations across our Wilson Security offices nationally:
Sydney | NSW
Our NSW Security team hosted an afternoon tea with a screening of ‘Not Just Numbers’. The afternoon tea was supplied by Indigenous owned and run businesses Kallico Catering and Dreamtime Tuka.
Not Just Numbers is an inspirational documentary about the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group. They believe in talking straight about the violence in their communities and are working on the front line in prevention, an area that receives very little funding or support. So often reduced to statistics, these heroes have banded together to fight for their lives and the lives of their families. They want to be seen, not just counted.
Adelaide | SA
Our SA Security team hosted an afternoon tea with some clients and graduates of the Making Tracks program in attendance. Catering was sourced from an Indigenous Supplier that we regularly use for such events. Following our Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners, attendees were updated on RAP / Making Tracks efforts, which involved detailing who has been hired through the program and to what contract they have been dispatched, as well as making mention of who we are still working with to employ. Currently 4 recruits are already working, with another 2 signing up as we speak.
Darwin | NT
Our NT Security team got together for a morning tea. The team acknowledge the Larrakia people as the Traditional custodians of the land and enjoyed the morning tea to celebrate Reconciliation Week. Pictured L-R: Faisal Iqbal, Robert Lloyd, Susan King, Shawn Tahari, Matthew Fairman, Marc Severino.
Essendon Fields | VIC
The VIC Security team hosted an afternoon tea on Friday with guest speaker Sara Stuart, Group CEO at Indigenous Employment Partners Ltd & Printing With Purpose. Sara spoke about the importance of cultural awareness, what reconciliation means to her, and the important work Indigenous employment services are doing around Australia. Catering was supplied by Bunji Catering. Pictured L-R: Chris Goodall, Nick Frangoulis, Sara Stuart, Chris Davies.
Brisbane | QLD
The QLD Security team hosted a morning tea in the Hendra office. Joe Wallace from Multhana Property Services joined the team as guest speaker. Multhana are currently the commercial cleaning contractor for the Hendra Security office.
At Wilson Security, our commitment to reconciliation continues as we look to launch our second RAP this year. We are currently engaging with Reconciliation Australia to endorse our next RAP and affirm our commitment to reconciliation.
We look forward to sharing our second Reconciliation Action Plan with you later in the year as we contribute to achieving real change in the journey towards reconciliation in Australia.
Find additional National Reconciliation Week resources below.
Resources
Read
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
Dark Emu puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for precolonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing – behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag. Gerritsen and Gammage in their latest books support this premise but Pascoe takes this further and challenges the hunter-gatherer tag as a convenient lie. Almost all the evidence comes from the records and diaries of the Australian explorers, impeccable sources.
A Rightful Place by Noel Pearson
In A Rightful Place, Noel Pearson shows how the idea of “race” was embedded in the constitution, and the distorting effect this has had. Pearson shows what constitutional recognition means, and what it could make possible: true equality and a renewed appreciation of an ancient culture.
The Urgency of Now by Stan Grant
A story of history, memoir, politics, struggle, survival and hope. Expressing a cautious optimism, The Urgency of Now show us that there is something we can all do, that there is a path forward, a way towards true reconciliation.
Watch
Ted Talk - Anita Heiss (2013) One x Sameness
Ted Talk – Tui Raven (2018) What is it like to be Aboriginal?
Ted Talk – Sheila Humphries (2017) My stolen childhood and a life to rebuild
Explore
Reconciliation Australia website
Reconciliation Australia is the lead body for reconciliation in Australia. They inspire and build relationships, respect and trust between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians.
Uluru Statement from the Heart website
At the conclusion of the 2017 First Nations National Constitutional Convention at Uluru, council member Megan Davis delivered the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people from First Nations Australians asking Australians to walk together to build a better future, calling for “constitutional change and structural reform” to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ensure they are rights-holders within their country.
Healing Foundation website
The Healing Foundation is a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation that provides a platform to amplify the voices and lived experience of Stolen Generations survivors and their families.
