COMING TOGETHER. Clans and Country

Transcription

1 CARLTON FC RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN JULY 2015 SEPTEMBER 2016

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3 COMING TOGETHER Clans and Country My approach in creating the symbol is that it has to have a message that is simple, symbolic, strong and communicates to all Indigenous and non-indigenous people today. In this exercise it is important that the Carlton Football Club is inclusive of all Indigenous groups, locally and nationally, therefore it is appropriate to create a piece that is relevant and acceptable by all groups. The story in the symbol is based on the following points being: People Culture Land The overall composition is based on the two most powerful art forms, which are highly regarded and respected nationally and internationally, being linear (line) and dot. Linear being the most prevalent and recorded historically as the oldest art form in the world today, plays an important part of the composition which is outlined below as follows: The large foreground stick figures represent Unity, Solidarity, Strength, Leadership and Respect. The symbolic message through these figures are powerful and identifiable throughout this continent and also within other Indigenous communities throughout the world. In this case, the foreground figures represent our respected Elders. The smaller stick figures represent clans or groups coming together portraying Harmony, Communication and Respect. The dot formations in the background allows for the overall composition to provide a very simple and powerful message. Within the dot formation are subtle symbolic representations of land, water, sites and spirituality. Also highlighted in the background is the powerful symbol being the concentric circle the circle of communication. Clive BIDJA Atkinson Descendent of the Yorta Yorta 2015.

4 OUR VISION FOR RECONCILIATION About the Reflect RAP The Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is about organisations from every sector turning good intentions into real actions and rising to the challenge of reconciling Australia. A RAP is a business plan that uses a holistic approach to create meaningful relationships, enhanced respect and promote sustainable opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The RAP program includes four types of RAPs, each offering a different level of engagement and support. In developing a Reflect RAP, the Carlton Football Club commits to completing the following actions over the next 14 months to ensure we are well positioned to implement effective and mutually beneficial initiatives as part of future RAPs. Our future RAPs will identify relationships, respect, opportunities and actions specific to our business and our sphere of influence. This Reflect RAP will allow the Club to focus on building relationships both internally and externally, and raise awareness with our stakeholders to ensure there is a shared understanding and ownership of our RAP within the Club. Development of our future RAPs will involve consultation with staff across the Club including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and other stakeholders to achieve our vision for reconciliation.

5 FROM LEFT: CHRIS YARRAN, ANDREW WALKER, SYD JACKSON, CLEM SMITH AND LIAM JONES WALKING THE HALLOWED TURF ON NATIONAL SORRY DAY, 2015 AT THE CARLTON FOOTBALL CLUB.

6 FOREWORD BY STEVEN TRIGG Message from the CEO It is with great pleasure that the Carlton Football Club presents its inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The Club has gone down this path, joining other AFL clubs, in acknowledging the important position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first peoples of our nation. Our RAP aims to provide a framework to build respectful relationships and to raise awareness with our stakeholders to ensure there is a shared understanding and ownership of our RAP within the Club. Whilst there is a need to reflect on, and address, elements of the Club s history, we are committed to building respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from which our players, staff and supporters come from. Our RAP seeks to play a lead role in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-indigenous Australians to work together towards reconciling Australia through the power of football. It is built upon the Club s core values of Unity, Responsibility and Initiative. Our mission as an organisation is to create a greater sense of belonging for all Carlton people and to achieve this we are dedicated to creating an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of all cultures. I would also like to acknowledge the Reconciliation Action Plan Advisory Board. Their leadership, guidance and personal commitment to help the Club build this important framework will ensure Carlton has a strong foundation to move forward. Our Club will continue to learn by working collaboratively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and reflecting on the reconciliation journey. I sincerely hope our inaugural RAP starts us on a path to best practice for the way in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-indigenous people work together, both on and off the field. Steven Trigg Chief Executive Officer Carlton Football Club

7 SYD JACKSON PLAYING CAREER: GAMES: 136 GOALS: 165 NUMBER: 5 PREMIERSHIP PLAYER: 1970, 1972 CARLTON HALL OF FAME: 2006

8 RAP ADVISORY BOARD STEVEN TRIGG CARLTON FC CEO In my time here at the Club it has been a journey of reflecting on the past with the goal of building a strong foundation with which the Club can create success both on and off the field. It is important that as a Club we create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all cultures. Our Reconciliation Action Plan provides the actions necessary to take real steps in building stronger relationships and outcomes in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Our Club is genuinely committed to playing our role in reconciling Australia through the power of football. SYD JACKSON CARLTON PREMIERSHIP PLAYER I am proud to be a Koara man of the Wongutha people from the Western Desert of Western Australia. Although I was removed from my family, homelands and culture at an early age through assimilation and removal policies of the time, I am proud and humbled by the strength and resilience that my Stolen Generation s brothers and sisters have shown over many generations. Some of us survived, others did not. I played football across my three clubs knowing seeing me play, and succeed at a game they all loved, made them happy. I am also very proud to be part of this Carlton Football Club Reconciliation Action Plan, as the only way forward to real healing and relationship building between all Australians is through working, learning and just being together. I welcome this great step forward my Club has taken, and I encourage all players, administrators, and our supporters across Australia to get involved as it can only make us stronger as a Club, and our nation a better place for all Australians to live. What a great legacy for the Carlton Football Club. AUNTY PAM PEDERSEN YORTA YORTA ELDER As a proud Yorta Yorta Elder I welcome and encourage the Carlton Football Club s initiative to develop and implement a Reconciliation Action Plan. I am also the proud daughter of Pastor Sir Doug and Lady Nicholls who committed their lives to actions that promoted understanding and connection between Aboriginal people and other Australians. It is with great enthusiasm and honour that my family and I support this Reconciliation Action Plan. We acknowledge the genuine and respectful manner in which the Club has approached this most significant step in the process of healing.

9 AARON CLARK AFL VICTORIA INDIGENOUS PROGRAMS MANAGER I am a proud descendent from the Tjap Whurrung people of the Gunditjmara nation, raised at the Framlingham Aboriginal reserve in south west Victoria. I am extremely proud of the enthusiastic manner shown by the Carlton FC in developing their very first RAP. A guiding document that will provide a platform for all levels of the Club to build long lasting community relationships and mutually beneficial relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia. In my current position as Indigenous Programs Manager at AFL Victoria I am intimately connected through a broad range of levels in football, from grass roots to the very elite. I get to witness daily the power of sport to create social change and the positive effects it has on my people. I look to past greats like Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls and Syd Jackson, who have become such iconic people for all Australians to be proud of. Well done to the Carlton FC on continuing to build upon past legacy s and nurturing a sense of belonging going forward something I have reconnected to via my involvement in the Advisory board, 14 years after having played at the club in ANDREW MCKAY CARLTON FC HEAD OF FOOTBALL The Carlton Football Club has a proud history of Indigenous players including our four current players: Andrew Walker, Chris Yarran, Liam Jones and Clem Smith. The Reconciliation Action Plan is important to set in place some meaningful goals for our football club, while also acting to educate and inform our playing list and staff about our nation s cultural heritage. This is an important step to create greater understanding and relationship building between all Australians which can only make us stronger as a nation and as a Club. SHAWN WILKEY CARLTON FC COMMUNITY & DIVERSITY MANAGER I have been incredibly privileged to work with this group of passionate individuals in crafting the Club s first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The cultural insight provided by Board members Aunty Pam, Syd and Aaron along with our Aboriginal players Andrew Walker, Chris Yarran, Liam Jones and Clem Smith has ensured our RAP is both respectful and challenging so that we strive to set high standards within the industry and broader society for how we engage with Australia s First Peoples. I d like to make special mention to Michael Jamison for representing the leadership group throughout the entire process and Doug Stevenson, Senior Diversity Officer at the Club for his tireless efforts in bringing this to fruition.

10 WHOLE OF CLUB APPROACH Our Business The Carlton Football Club is built upon a rich history of diverse cultures and committed to its core values: Unity, Responsibility and Initiative. The Club employs more than 130 full time staff inclusive of the playing group. Currently, the Club employs four full time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, these include four players Andrew Walker, Chris Yarran, Liam Jones and Clem Smith. The Club engages closely with the Carlton community and more broadly in Melbourne s north however it has links to various communities around Australia. It is important that the Club engages and represents the wider community through its actions. Our end goal is to create a greater sense of belonging for all Carlton people and to achieve this we are dedicated to creating an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of all cultures. Our RAP The Carlton Football Club is committed to acknowledging and respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. The Club aims to celebrate the strong contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players and staff have made to the Club, both past and present. Through the establishment of its inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan the Club aims to strengthen its relationship with the community and create opportunities within our sphere of influence to assist in creating the right environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander success. The establishment of our RAP has been led by the Club s Chief Executive Officer, Steven Trigg who is also Chairman of the RAP Advisory Board. Also championing the RAP internally are RAP Advisory Board Members Andrew McKay (Head of Football) and Shawn Wilkey (Community & Diversity Manager) who is also Secretary. The Club has been incredibly fortunate to have on its RAP Advisory Board Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives Aunty Pam Pedersen, Syd Jackson and Aaron Clark. The vast majority of staff at the Club have clear actions illustrated in the RAP where they ll play a key leadership role in their areas of influence. RAP sub-committee working group members are assembled on a project by project basis and come from each of the major areas of the Club.

11 Our Initiatives In 2015, the Carlton Football Club in association with the Rumbalara Football & Netball Club, conducted its annual community camp on the lands of the Yorta Yorta people. During this time, the Club s senior leadership team from the playing group led by Andrew Walker conducted a Cultural Tour along the Barmah Reserve. During this Cultural Tour, Uncle Col Walker educated the players about the spiritual home of the Yorta Yorta people, as well as the importance and connection to the land. In 2015, Carlton was privileged to have highly regarded and well respected Yorta Yorta Artist Clive Bidja Atkinson design its Indigenous Round guernsey. This was an important moment in the Club s history as we paid respect to Biami, the rainbow serpent, the creation spirit with links to the Yorta Yorta. Watjerrupna, the Long Neck Tortoise was also present, the totem of the Yorta Yorta Nations and many other Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups. Finally, Yenbena which symbolises Unity, Solidarity, Harmony, Strength and Respect featured on the back of the guernsey. Over the past three years, the Club has worked with Wurundjeri Elders to deliver cultural education to students that participate in its annual Interfaith Cup. Bill Nicholson and Uncle Colin Hunter have delivered this cultural education to secondary students which included a Welcome to Country, the connection to land and the connections between Marngrook and the modern version of Australian Rules Football. Furthering this commitment to understanding culture, Blues legend Syd Jackson told his story of being a part of the Stolen Generation, his connection to Carlton and how the Club can play a lead role in reconciling Australia through the power of football. The work of Syd Jackson goes well beyond Carlton through his work at Roelands Village, the Outback Academy and Red Dust Heelers. The Club will look to support Syd s work through the development of this Reconciliation Action Plan.

12 RELATIONSHIPS Action Responsibility Timeline Deliverables Establish a RAP Working Group CEO May A RAP Working Group is formed and operational to support the development of our RAP, comprising of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians. 2. The RAP Working Group will meet at least 4 times annually. Develop external relationships Senior Diversity Officer May A list of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, organisations and stakeholders within our local area or sphere of influence that we could approach to assist us in our understanding of the potential activities in our future RAPs is developed. HR Manager Nov Develop Welcome Pack for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players/staff as part of induction. Events Manager Jul Invite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community members as special guests to two official match day functions. Media Manager Sep Include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Media Organisations when facilitating media commitments. Senior Diversity Officer Dec As a part of the Club s annual AFL Community Camp, incorporate the inclusion of the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Corporate Sales Manager Dec Present proposal outlining potential corporate partnerships that can help support the sustainability of the RAP and the Club s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs. Community Officer Dec Present a proposal on aligning CBA Player visits to support existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community initiatives. Celebrate National Reconciliation Week (NRW) Supporter Engagement Manager Dec Scope the ability to develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Supporter Group that includes two match day experiences, including creating a network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ambassadors. Senior Diversity Officer Dec Present a proposal for the Reconciliation Cup to be held in Echuca, Victoria annually to RAP Advisory Group. Senior Diversity Officer Jul Host Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities at two match day experiences. Community & Diversity Manager May 15 & May A plan is developed and executed to raise awareness across the organisation about the RAP commitment, particularly with key internal stakeholders. CEO Jul A presentation on our RAP commitment is given to all relevant areas of our business to ensure they have an understanding of how their area can contribute to our RAP. GM Digital, Media & Brand Sept Develop Media & Communications plan that promotes the work the Club is doing through its RAP with targeted multi-channel campaigns for Indigenous Round, Indigenous Jumper, National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week.

13 RESPECT Action Responsibility Timeline Deliverables Investigate cultural development Community & Diversity Manager Sept A business case for cultural awareness, capability and development based on our core business is developed, with findings presented to relevant HR/Learning and Development area for their input. HR Manager Sept We have captured baseline data on our employees current level of understanding around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, cultures and contributions. Create a welcoming environment that respects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures Head of Venue Operations Aug Display Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on culturally significant events such as Sorry Day, National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week. Head of Venue Operations Dec The ability to display the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in the foyer entrance permanently is scoped. Brand & Marketing Manager Jul Promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork within the Reconciliation Action Plan to help build community awareness of the importance of these cultural practices. Media Manager Jul Support the Recognise Campaign to promote constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Senior Diversity Officer Sep Deliver an Indigenous Round jumper with respect and consultation and all proceeds going to the Club s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs. Head of Venue Operations Dec An exhibition that displays past Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players and the history of the Club s involvement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is scoped. Celebrate NAIDOC Week All Jul 15 & Jul 16 Raise internal understanding of protocols Community & Diversity Manager Jul Our Working Group holds an internal event in NAIDOC Week (1st Sunday 2nd Sunday in July each year). 26. The plan that is developed to raise awareness includes opportunities to raise understanding of the meaning and significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols, such as Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country, to our employees. Head of Venue Operations Dec Install a plaque on the venue to recognise the Traditional Owners of where our Club is located. Events Manager Dec Conduct a Welcome to Country and/or Acknowledgement of Country at signature Carlton events.

14 OPPORTUNITIES Action Responsibility Timeline Deliverables Consider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment HR Manager Aug A business case for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment within our organisation is scoped. HR Manager Dec We have captured baseline data on current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to inform future developments. Consider supplier diversity Chief Financial Officer Dec A business case for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supplier diversity and how our organisation can develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supplier diversity program is scoped. Media Manager Jul Subscribe to the Koori Mail. Senior Diversity Officer Feb Commission an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist to facilitate gift exchange as a part of the AFL Indigenous Round. Other opportunities Community & Diversity Manager Player Wellbeing & Development Manager Dec 15 Sept A paper is presented to the RAP Working Group outlining other opportunities, such as around education, that have been identified throughout our consultation with internal and external stakeholders. This paper will assist in defining actions for subsequent RAPs for our organisation. 35. A paper is presented to the RAP Working Group outlining opportunities for improvement in the way we support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players using the Many Stories, One Goal document as a guiding framework. Merchandise Manager Dec Present proposal outlining potential merchandise opportunities that can help support the sustainability of the RAP and the Club s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs. Player Wellbeing & Development Manager Feb Conduct one mentoring session for Indigenous Talent Pathway Programs including advice on mentoring, leadership, nutrition and recruiting expectations.

15 TRACKING AND PROGRESS Action Responsibility Timeline Deliverables External Reporting Senior Diversity Officer Aug Complete and submit Reconciliation Action Plan impact measurement questionnaire to Reconciliation Australia annually. Internal Reporting Community & Diversity Manager Aug Present mid-year update to RAP Advisory Group. 40. Include RAP in annual London Benchmarking Group corporate community investment audit.

16 To find out more please contact: Shawn Wilkey RAP Advisory Board Secretary Community & Diversity Manager Carlton Football Club CARLTONFC.COM.AU