Reconciliation

As the Government of South Australia’s urban renewal authority, we have the capacity to take meaningful steps across our range of projects, programs and other activities to enhance how we respectfully acknowledge and engage with our key Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partners and stakeholders.

Renewal SA (including its predecessor organisations) has worked with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities on various practical aspects of planning, design, management and development of land across the Greater Adelaide region.

Our actions to date have focused on engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, particularly the Kaurna peoples, through consultation on project planning and in managing tangible and intangible heritage sites and values on land.

Additionally, we have sought to provide training and job opportunities to Aboriginal South Australians through the Works Program and, more recently, identify opportunities to engage Aboriginal businesses through our direct and indirect procurement.

We recognise that while these individual actions are positive steps towards inclusion, these actions do not fully take into consideration the broader context of what South Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have experienced and continue to experience. We accept that we are only now taking our first step towards reconciliation and, in doing so, will align our actions to the outcomes we aspire through our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

Our RAP will build upon the experiences and relationships previously built with our partners and establishes our commitment to this reconciliation journey.

A Reflect RAP clearly sets out the steps we should take to prepare our organisation for reconciliation initiatives in successive RAPs. Committing to a Reflect RAP allows our organisation to spend time scoping and developing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders, deciding on our vision for reconciliation and exploring our sphere of influence, before committing to specific actions or initiatives. This process will help to produce future RAPs that are meaningful, mutually beneficial and sustainable.

(Source: Reconciliation Australia, 2019)

Renewal SA's Reflect RAP will guide our organisation on a journey towards a reconciled future for Australian and Torres Strait Islander communities and non-Indigenous peoples, and commits us to action.​

By adopting Reconciliation Australia’s RAP framework, our first plan provides us with the opportunity to reflect on our organisation, our activities and our relationships to define our contribution to reconciliation over the coming years.

Download our Reflect RAP to learn more about our plan and commitment to reconciliation.