Yarrwul Loitjba Yapaneyepuk - Walk the Talk Together: Koori Inclusion Action Plan

Related documents:

• Koori Cultural Respect Framework 2017
• Koori Employment and Career Strategy 2017-2020

Building on the foundations

“Yarrwul Loitjba Yapaneyepuk – Walk the Talk Together will continue to build a workforce culture that acknowledges, respects and celebrates Koori rights, heritage and culture, and embeds partnership with the Koori community in all that we do."

Carolyn Gale Deputy Secretary, Service Strategy Reform

In 2009, the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments, through the Council of Australian Governments, committed to implementing the National Indigenous Reform Agreement. The Agreement frames the task of closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. It sets out the objectives, outcomes, outputs, performance measures and benchmarks that all governments have committed to achieving.

The gap is wide and the impact of disadvantage is profound. Presently, Victorian Aboriginal people are over-represented in the criminal justice system at a rate of about 12 times that of non-Aboriginal people.

Contact with the justice system is driven by the disadvantage experienced by Koori communities, particularly in education, housing and employment. The legacy of intergenerational trauma, grief and loss can serve to further compound this disadvantage.

In response to Closing the Gap commitments, the Victorian Government released the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework 2013-18, the overarching Aboriginal policy framework for the state. It builds on the four guiding principles for Aboriginal Affairs: aspirations; accountability; engagement and inclusiveness; and a whole of community approach.

In 2012, our department launched its Koori Inclusion Action Plan - Mingu Gadhaba: Beginning Together, in accordance with the framework.

Over the past five years, Mingu Gadhaba has demonstrated our commitment to partnership with Koori stakeholders, supported Koori employment and economic participation, and invested in organisational change to ensure Koori inclusion is a shared responsibility.

Through a series of focus groups, with participants drawn from across the department and throughout the state, and with the assistance of Koori Caucus, we have built on the foundation of Mingu Gadhaba to develop departmental commitments for a refreshed Koori Inclusion Action Plan.

Yarrwul Loitjba Yapaneyepuk – Walk the Talk Together is built on one of the founding principles of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, that ‘human rights have a special importance for the Aboriginal people of Victoria, as descendants of Australia’s first people, with their diverse spiritual, social, cultural and economic relationship with their traditional lands and waters’.

Yarrwul Loitjba Yapaneyepuk – Walk the Talk Together responds to other state and Commonwealth policy frameworks including the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework, Karreeta Yirramboi, Indigenous Procurement Policy and Closing the Gap targets. It forms an important component of the strategic actions to provide responsive and inclusive services in the Aboriginal Justice Agreement.

1. Koori partnership

• Our relationships are built on understanding, trust and continuous learning
• We partner with the Koori community to inform and shape our planning and decision making
• We work across government and agencies to align and integrate policies and programs

We recognise that Koori voices must be included in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs that affect the Koori community. Engagement and partnership with Koori people ensures their views, experience and knowledge inform decision-making and delivery.

Through collaborative partnerships, we will deepen our understanding of how to effectively respond to the community’s needs. This will enable us to provide improved coordination of service delivery, and ultimately better outcomes for Koories in the justice system.

We will know we have been successful when:

• our policies and programs are developed in partnership with the Koori community and consider the cultural rights of Koories under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities
• koori stakeholders are involved in service design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation
• reports of our progress on Koori inclusion are readily available to key stakeholders including Koori Caucus, the Secretaries’ Leadership Group on Aboriginal Affairs, and the Koori community, and feedback is incorporated to ensure continual improvement
• we work together with other departments and agencies to ensure a coordinated, effective and accountable policy and program effort
• our statutory agencies collaboratively build their capacity to deliver a culturally inclusive and responsive justice service system
• we work with Traditional Owner groups to recognise and enhance the exercise of their rights over their country through reaching agreements under the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010.

“The department is proud of its long-standing partnership with the Victorian Koori community and the contribution of Koori Caucus is invaluable in implementing the actions of the Aboriginal Justice Agreement.”

Antoinette Gentile, Director, Koori Justice Unit

2. Koori business is every day business

• Our leadership group actively demonstrates its commitment to Koori inclusion
• We are a culturally safe, respectful and inclusive workforce
• Koori inclusion is supported by our tools, policies and procedures
• We support Koori careers and leadership development

Koori over-representation in the criminal justice system means that Koori business is core business for the department.

Our policies and operations will all be responsive to Koori issues, acknowledge Koori culture and celebrate the success of the department’s Koori staff.

We will know we have been successful when:

• we show leadership, model acceptable behaviours and always challenge inappropriate behaviours to ensure racism is never tolerated in our workplace
• we acknowledge and recognise the importance of incorporating a Koori perspective into our daily decision making including planning, policy, research and project development
• our programs and services are accessible to and inclusive of the needs of the Koori community
• our data collection builds a stronger understanding of Koori service requirements in all justice programs
• Koori cultural awareness training is an expectation for all staff and a deeper understanding of cultural respect in action is apparent across the department
• respect for Koori culture is a normal part of our work through our business and performance planning processes
• through our Koori and Employment and Career Strategy, we recruit well and support Koori staff to develop skills and build good careers
• Koori staff are well represented in leadership positions
• Koori culture and heritage is recognised, celebrated and promoted throughout the year.

“Building better practices that embrace diversity creates a respectful workplace where the individual differences of all staff are valued. In turn, it fosters a culture where everyone feels safe.”

Miya Chiba, Executive Director, People and Culture

3. Improving Koori outcomes

• Our services are respectful and responsive to the Koori community
• We meet our commitment to improving justice outcomes for Koories
• We support Koori economic development
• We are an employer of choice for Koori people

We will ensure that Koori outcomes are a shared responsibility through the implementation of the principles in this plan.

We will provide opportunities for economic participation and development, helping to build economic independence through our business and employment practices.

We will know we have been successful when:

• engage meaningfully with the Koori community and our workforce to lead and drive better outcomes for Koories
• we support Koori organisations to partner with justice agencies in the provision of justice-related services and programs
• our business decisions support the Koori community and facilitate Koori jobs and business growth
• we help build capability and capacity in community organisations
• we increase Koori membership on justice-related boards, committees and tribunals that make decisions impacting on the Koori community
• we are identified as an employer of choice for the Koori community
• our built environment recognises and celebrates Koori culture and provides safe spaces for the Koori community and staff
• we use Supply Nation’s network and resources to support engagement of Koori businesses and Aboriginal economic development and meet the department’s procurement targets for engagement of Koori suppliers.

"The key to any of the work that we undertake and changes that we make to improve our procurement processes and make them more inclusive, is to ensure that we open up and maintain a dialogue with Koori suppliers.”

Phil Chalkley, Chief Procurement Officer

Activating Yarrwul Loitjba Yapaneyepuk – Walk the Talk Together

This Koori Inclusion Action Plan outlines how our department will lead, behave and collaborate to improve Koori inclusion across all that we do.

To implement our plan:

• 1. department divisions and regions will develop plans to implement actions aligned to the Koori Inclusion Action Plan goals and principles and key success areas most relevant to their functions. These plans will be reviewed and refreshed annually.
• 2. Koori inclusion will be incorporated into the regular planning process for the department – ensuring that “Koori business is every day business”
• 3. the department’s Koori Inclusion Action Plan Steering Committee will oversee progress against the plans and refresh the plan as required.
• 4. to ensure we are transparent and accountable about our progress, the Koori Inclusion Action Plan Steering Committee will report each year:
  • to the Justice senior executive group
  • to Koori Caucus
  • to the Aboriginal Justice Forum
  • to staff through our internal communication channels
  • to the to the wider community on the department’s website and through our Justice Service Centres.

Celebrating Koori Culture

JULY – NAIDOC WEEK CELEBRATIONS

The department celebrates NAIDOC week every year. In 2017 the Koori Justice Unit hosted a NAIDOC celebration in Melbourne. The event included a Welcome to Country by Aunty Zeta Thomson with a special song in the Yorta-Yorta language.

Guests were treated to an amazing display of traditional dance led by The Fighting Gunditjmara dance group. The dance group shared the importance of keeping the longest living culture alive and thriving, and passing it down to the younger generation.

Attendees were taken back in history with a DVD on the life and times of the late Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls and his incredible journey from Cummeragunja Aboriginal Mission to representing Victoria in the AFL, Governor of South Australia and more.

Bobby Nicholls – Koori Caucus member and nephew of Pastor Sir Doug – spoke of his uncle’s life and the challenges he faced as well as the many opportunities he took through his career as a sporting legend.

The Koori Justice Unit in partnership with Worawa Aboriginal College held an Art Exhibition during NAIDOC week with auctions on each art work going to the highest bidder and proceeds going back to the school and students.

Cover Art - Hunting Kangaroos

About the artist:
Bradley Brown, GunaiKurnai man

Bradley has experimented with the traditional GunaiKurnai artform of line patterns and contrasted this with other techniques such as dots and bold colours to celebrate the diversity in our human and physical landscape. This painting depicts an Aboriginal narrative about strength, hunting and gathering resources to share with the community. The footprints, arrows and circles symbolise the community unified on a journey together.

“Kangaroos are prominent figures in Aboriginal culture and art; they were hunted for food, to craft bones into hunting tools and fur for clothing. ‘Hunting Kangaroos’ depicts a story about Aboriginal men making and using traditional tools to hunt and gather Kangaroo for their community. The colours in the background represent the diverse landscape of their hunting grounds, the dots are the journey they took to find the Kangaroo and the line work, the spears they carried. This painting shows the strength and ability of the Aboriginal people and our connection to country.”

Bradley Brown