Our reconciliation journey

Burdekin's Reconciliation Action Plan and National Reconciliation Week

Burdekin’s reconciliation journey

At last count, some 40,000 children and young people in Australia are living in Out-of-home Care. Almost half of these are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. This disproportionate representation has led Burdekin to form an Aboriginal Team, staffed by people from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, and to develop a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The Burdekin Aboriginal Team is led by Aunty Barbara O’Neill, a proud Dhangatti Woman born on the Gadigal Country of the Eora Nation. She says "Burdekin's Aboriginal Team is about healing. Administratively, we're working with teams and changing the way Burdekin works with Aboriginal young people. As Aboriginal people, we're connecting with young Aboriginal people - we're going through an Indigenous healing process with them.

“Yarning is the biggest healing process that we have. Through yarning, we strengthen the sense of identity and the knowledge of identity within young people. It's very healing from a trans-generational perspective, having us here at Burdekin.

The Aboriginal young people are hungry for culture. They can't get enough of it. They intuitively know that there's something else out there.”

Reflect "Reconciliation Action Plan"

Burdekin’s Reflect ‘Reconciliation Action Plan’ (RAP) was launched at our Annual General Meeting in November 2024 and will help us to be culturally aware and safe for the benefit of all children and young people we work with. We want to make a positive contribution towards reconciliation in Australia.

"A Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is an opportunity for an organisation to look inwardly, understand and learn how further growth between an organisation and the Aboriginal community can be commenced and become entrenched in that organisation.”

“It's really important that Burdekin has a living RAP, as the message coming from the Board and the Executive Leadership Team demonstrates that we are allied with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that all of our actions and principles include the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."

“With Burdekin, the foundations of the RAP are living - the staff are taken along the journey, and external and internal stakeholders are being respectfully invited to participate."

- said Aunty Barb, Aboriginal Mentor to Burdekin

By Kyara Fernando

Aboriginal artwork

The artwork in the image above and featured in Burdekin's Reconciliation Action Plan is by Indigenous artist, Kyara Fernando. It celebrates the enduring strength and resilience of wisdom for youth.

The artwork:

Uses colours and symbols that reflect the experiences and aspirations of community.
Fosters a sense of identification and connection.
Displays symbols of cultural identity - hands and footprints, working together, communities of family connection, strength, and power.
Circular forms that capture the recurrent nature of community life, illustrating how experiences, struggles and triumphs are shared and celebrated across generations.
Creates a safe space for trust, protection, support, belief, and adapting to change.
Shows hands, symbolising identity, action, support, and co-operation, reflecting the collective effort that supports community resilience.
Displays footprints that signify the paths walked by past and present generations, highlighting the importance of legacy and the wisdom passed down.
Shows lines of direction embracing progress, development and moving forward.

Burdekin has a RAP Working Group of non-Aboriginal staff that meet regularly to lead the implementation of our plan. Our Aboriginal staff led by Aunty Barb attend the RAP Working Group meetings to support and advise its efforts.

What is National Reconciliation Week?

National Reconciliation Week is a time when we learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements.

The theme for 2024’s National Reconciliation Week, held May 27 - June 3, was 'Now More Than Ever'. It's a reminder that the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must continue. The week was about seeking better outcomes for First Nations People.

National Reconciliation Week marks two events in the reconciliation journey - the 1967 Referendum (where Australians voted to change the Constitution so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be counted as part of the population and the Commonwealth would be able to make laws for them) and The Mabo Case.

Burdekin hosted a National Reconciliation Week event at our Marrickville office on Tuesday May 28, 2024. We acknowledged Country, enjoyed a Smoking Ceremony and ate delicious Indigenous food.

National Sorry Day

Another key part of National Reconciliation Week is National Sorry Day. It remembers the Stolen Generations - children who were taken from their families to be assimilated into white Australian society. At our 2024 event, we had the opportunity to meet with and ask questions of Aunty Barb, our Aboriginal Mentor, and learn more about our new Aboriginal Unit and Burdekin's draft Reconciliation Action Plan.