Celebrating National Reconciliation Week across UGL

Date

June 08, 2022

Categories

Diversity and inclusion
People and community

Tags

Across UGL, we have celebrated National Reconciliation Week in many ways.

We participated in various cultural immersion events continuing our education as an organisation and developing a deeper understanding of the histories and cultures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in which UGL operates.

Enjoy our wrap up below featuring images from across Australia, while we participated in #NRW2022

UGL hosted a webinar where teams across the business shared their “Be Brave. Make Change.” stories including:

UGL Unipart working with Luke Penrith Arts & Designs to procure hi-vis shirts for the team featuring Luke’s ‘Bloodlines’ design (left)
Community engagement with Sydney Regional Aboriginal Corporation (SRAC) to facilitate painting bees at a local SRAC facility, providing mentoring opportunities to participants, and continually looking for employment opportunities within UGL. The team also enjoyed Super Training sessions with some of the students at the local Clontarf Foundation Academy (centre)
Hosting First Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry Incorporated's FACCI Vending machines on site at Sydney Metro – an initiative of the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce (NSWICC) (right)

All UGL head offices have participated in activities facilitated by Koomurri Entertainment. Participants joined in for boomerang art with Aboriginal symbols and learning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional dances.

At UGL Unipart, Luke Penrith launched his “Yarning Circles” hi-vis shirts and told the team about the design and his story. The team participated in a smoking ceremony, and enjoyed a sausage sizzle after a toolbox talk around the significance of National Reconciliation Week.

In Perth, Reconciliation WA hosted a walking tour of Kaarta Koomba (Kings Park) with a focus on cultural learning and reflection while keeping one another safe. The event was well attended with hundreds of people converging on the grounds of Kaarta Koomba to enjoy a feast of activities that showcased Aboriginal culture in all its forms.

Below shows the team making a contribution to traditional artworks by Whadjuk artist, Julianne Wade; sampling traditional foods and medicines found in Kaarta Koomba; and participating in a smoking ceremony to commence the walk.

Signal Electrician, Arden Pether, took the time to visit his son’s kindergarten and spoke to the children about the importance of reconciliation and UGL’s part in educating the business and wider community. He also spent time with the children reading some indigenous stories.

Our Bennetts Green team, along with some colleagues from the Major Projects had the opportunity to spend a morning learning and sharing our combined experience on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their history. Bradley Cummins and UGL’s Aboriginal Engagement Manager (East) Ronald Jones, shared their knowledge and energy in support of deepening our collective knowledge of Aboriginal culture.

Back onsite, this was followed by an official Welcome to Country by Theresa Dargin from Spiritual Ways for the Awabakal Country on which the teamwork and operate. Theresa also performed a Smoking Ceremony with the team whilst explaining the heritage of her people and the journey they have been on. Finally, the team had light refreshments catered for by Corey at Meat Bros’ which was a fantastic selection of indigenous ingredients and recipes.