Ethics inform everything we do at Cundall, which is why the Australian business has engaged in the formal process of Reconciliation with the development of our initial Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
The plan has been formally approved by Reconciliation Australia, the body that oversees and guides organisations like ours on the journey towards acknowledging, respecting and engaging in a meaningful way with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures.
The first stage of the process is the Reflect RAP, in which we start to understand what our potential is to promote Reconciliation and enact positive change within our sphere of influence including staff, clients, peers and the wider community.
The plan was launched with a Smoking Ceremony on Cammeraygal Country in North Sydney in February.
“As engineers and sustainability consultants, we realise our work affects Country, so understanding the history of the landscape and respecting the culture of Traditional Owners who stewarded its resources for thousands of years is essential,” Julian Bott, APAC Managing Director says.
“We also have to face some of the difficult truths about Australia’s history since 1788. That will help us see what we can do as individuals and as a company to help to redress the legacy of dispossession, racism and disadvantage that still affects Australia’s First Nations peoples.”
The RAP committee, chaired by Principal Sustainability Consultant, Natalie Cahill, is working on a range of actions arising from this first RAP. These include raising awareness internally of the importance of Reconciliation and respecting First Nations cultures through attending events in National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week, introducing Acknowledgment of Country for all formal meetings, and ensuring Traditional Owner names for Country are incorporated into addresses, signatures and project profiles.
Cundall Australia is also looking at ways to proactively provide education, custom and employment opportunities for First Nations students, suppliers, engineers and sustainability experts.
Read our RAP here.
