Working together and doing our part
- Date
- July 05, 2022
- Categories
- People and community
- Tags
‘My hopes for the future are that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have equality and equity in every sense of the word. I want to see the systematic barriers that prevent us achieving this removed for good.’
Ron Jones, Aboriginal Engagement Manager (East), UGL
Across CIMIC Group, we are making progress towards reconciliation. This week, as we celebrate NAIDOC, we wanted to share a snapshot of steps our teams are making to learn more and champion inclusion.
UGL’s Broadmeadow site has a 120-year history, with a unique team who design, build, and maintain freight trains – the only operation with this capability in Australia.
Like teams across our Group, the Broadmeadow team is taking action to create a more inclusive work environment, while creating recruitment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders and fostering cultural awareness.
Recently, team members on the site completed cultural awareness training.
When speaking about the importance of cultural awareness training, Ron Jones, UGL Aboriginal Engagement Manager (East) said “Cultural awareness training allows us to have open and honest conversations about what happened in the past and some of the things that are still happening now. It provides an opportunity to change the perceptions non-Aboriginal people have about my people. Once these perceptions change, we can move forward to ensure a brighter future for our kids.”
Toby Garafillis, UGL Operations Manager NSW, outlined his team’s experience:. ‘Cultural awareness training gave us an opportunity to break down perceptions, to see things from a different perspective. I hope that each and every one of us walked out of that training, taking something with us that we can apply to our job, every single day, to provide opportunities for everyone on our site.”
The efforts of the Broadmeadow team are just one example of the many reconciliation initiatives underway across CIMIC Group. We are focused on working together and doing our part to achieve a just, equitable and reconciled Australia.