Land shoot yard, Rhonda Duncan
This painting is about going together collecting bush food, at the same time teaching the children about bush food and everything in the bush. Like when you go collecting and you got to know which food to eat. This natural billabong is drying up, see the brown colour. Best to go and get that food before those other animals collect that bush food, like lillie roots, turtles and fish. These are the old ladies here, you see them angry when they see other people coming in and they want that food for themselves for their families.
Rhonda Duncan
Rhonda Duncan, Painter, Weaver, and Carver from Urapunga Community, Northern Territory. Rhonda's work celebrates the colour and liveliness of Ngalakgan Country through her vibrant depictions of birds, waterholes, bushfoods and seasons.
Our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan
We have the privilege of working on the lands of the oldest living cultures in the world. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have nurtured this land for more than 65,000 years. We must recognise and respect their abiding connection to this land, its waterways and communities. We have so much to gain, and are so fortunate, to be on this land and to learn from 65,000 years of wisdom, cultures and knowledge.
We believe that acknowledging the past is an essential step in building a better, more equitable future. We acknowledge the impact of colonisation, its legacy of injustice and the marginalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
It’s our responsibility to do all that we can to honour and respect First Nations peoples, and our reconciliation action plan journey is just one way we are working towards this.
At the heart of our ambition to be a diverse business is ensuring our work respects and reflects the diversity of the Australian community so that we can co-create the most innovative solutions that benefit everyone in Australia, for a more equitable, fair and just society for all.
Inclusive design means ensuring we include groups who are often excluded or underserved. Central to our design ethos is community-led innovation—the idea that people and communities that are likely to be affected by the implementation of a policy or service or change should be involved in designing it. This means we design shoulder-to-shoulder with diverse communities, whether that be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, recent migrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with disabilities or other groups who are often excluded.
We developed a reconciliation action plan (RAP) to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples voices are embedded in our work through partnerships, collaboration and employment. We will decolonise the design industry together, leading to better outcomes for all.
Our RAP Working Group will lead the implementation of our Innovate RAP, with the full support of Today’s leadership and the entire Today team.
In developing this RAP, we have spent time together as a team, listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s stories, learning on Country, and reflecting on our collective ambitions for reconciliation.
This is Today’s second reconciliation action plan, which builds on the work we did in our Reflect Reconciliation Plan and twelve years of purpose-focused work. Today believes in a brighter tomorrow. But for that brighter tomorrow to exist, truth-telling, learning, listening and action needs to take place.
In our work to date, we have been fortunate to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people across numerous programs. Two examples are; designing for safe and supportive access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to a Working With Children’s Check in NSW, and working with Martu people and Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa to design and build a location-based digital storytelling tool to preserve language and culture.
As well as taking actions within our organisation, we are also acutely aware of the lack of representation in the design industry within which we operate, and we want to do all that we can to influence change here.
In addition to this, we are committed to ensuring that our work on products, policy and services is designed with, not for, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Statement from CEO of Reconciliation Australia
Reconciliation Australia commends Today Strategic Design on the formal endorsement of its inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
Commencing an Innovate RAP is a crucial and rewarding period in an organisation’s reconciliation journey.
It is a time to build strong foundations and relationships, ensuring sustainable, thoughtful, and impactful RAP outcomes into the future.
Since 2006, RAPs have provided a framework for organisations to leverage their structures and diverse spheres of influence to support the national reconciliation movement.
This Innovate RAP is both an opportunity and an invitation for Today to expand its understanding of its core strengths and deepen its relationship with its community, staff, and stakeholders.
By investigating and understanding the integral role it plays across its sphere of influence, Today will create dynamic reconciliation outcomes, supported by and aligned with its business objectives.
An Innovate RAP is the time to strengthen and develop the connections that form the lifeblood of all RAP commitments. The RAP program’s framework of relationships, respect, and opportunities emphasises not only the importance of fostering consultation and collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities, but also empowering and enabling staff to contribute to this process, as well.
With over 5.5 million people now either working or studying in an organisation with a RAP, the program’s potential for impact is greater than ever. Today is part of a strong network of more than 3,000 corporate, government, and not-for-profit organisations that have taken goodwill and intention, and transformed it into action.
Implementing an Innovate RAP signals Today’s readiness to develop and strengthen relationships, engage staff and stakeholders in reconciliation, and pilot innovative strategies to ensure effective outcomes.
Getting these steps right will ensure the sustainability of future RAPs and reconciliation initiatives, and provide meaningful impact toward Australia’s reconciliation journey.
Congratulations Today on your Innovate RAP and I look forward to following your ongoing reconciliation journey.
Karen Mundine, Chief Executive Officer, Reconciliation Australia
