In July 2022, we launched our first Reconciliation Action Plan, or RAP. Our Reflect RAP has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia and sets out the steps we will take towards reconciliation over the first 12 months.
Creating a true sense of ownership of the RAP in all our people will be paramount to our first RAP’s success. With guidance from the RAP Working Group and our leadership team, our RAP will be implemented through changes to policies and processes and embedded into our day-to-day operations.
We recognise that reconciliation takes collective change. Currently, the playing field isn’t level and First Nations people remain the most disadvantaged community in Australia.
It’s our responsibility to lift each other up and make sure no one is left behind. RAPs provide substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They help to build economic equity and support First Nations self-determination.
We’ll improve cultural learning through strategic communications, and increase participation and immersion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
We’ll attract Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent by supporting education programs and enhancing partnerships that facilitate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment opportunities.
We’ll create meaningful relationships with First Australians built on trust, mutual understanding and shared experiences, and focus on supplier diversity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.
‘Flow’ aims to capture the delicate but sometimes fast flow of water after it falls as rain to the earth, flowing down from the mountains to the sea, as rivers and then distributed via its creeks and waterways across country nourishing the land and all that live there.
This painting explores the themes of family, water and connecting the feminine. The work is a family collaboration with Leanne Tobin (Jess’s Aunty) and Chris Tobin (Jess’s father) assisting in completing the work.
‘Flow’ alludes to the ebbs and flows within families but also captures the swirling eddies and cleansing currents that move through the waterways. It acknowledges the importance of the preservation of our water while encouraging a reverence for water and her sacred role in our everyday lives.
Jessica is passionate about the truth telling of Australian history and hopes to inspire compassion and appreciation, particularly in the waterways that nourish Country, part of her responsibility to Country.
Walking the delicate balance between a modern post-colonial environment and the living culture of Aboriginal Australia, Jessica is enthusiastic about sharing and practising a continuing culture that is still expressed today through dance, art and song.
