National NAIDOC Week – How the workplace plays a role in inclusiveness

This year’s focus is: “Get Up! Stand Up! and Show Up!” A rally cry  for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and rights, this year is promoting increased environmental, cultural and heritage protections, Constitutional change, a comprehensive process of truth-telling, progress towards treaties, and calling out racism.

This year’s celebration holds extra significance, with the new Labor Government, and its leader Anthony Albanese, vowing to commit “in full” to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

What is NAIDOC? — A brief history

NAIDOC stands for ‘National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself. Now, NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life.

Prior to the 1920s, many Aboriginal rights groups decided to boycott Australia Day in protest of the treatment of Indigenous Australians. These boycotts struggled to gain traction, and so organisations such as the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA), and the Australian Aborigines League (AAL) joined together s to consolidate their activity as one entity. However, it too struggled to make an impact and eventually disbanded.

In 1935, the founder of the AAL, William Cooper, sent a petition to Britain’s King George V, asking for Aboriginal electorates in parliament. The Australian Government rejected it. However, on Australia Day in 1938, thousands of people joined a protest march through Sydney. This was one of the first major civil rights gatherings in the world, and it became known as the Day of Mourning. This day quickly became an annual event to celebrate Aboriginal culture and was renamed Aborigines Day.

Many Aboriginal organisations, state and federal governments, and some church groups all supported the formation of the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC). In 1975 the celebration was extended to a week, while in 1991 NADOC was expanded to include Torres Strait Islander people and culture and renamed National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC). This is now also the name of the week-long celebration. A theme is chosen every year to reflect the important issues and events for NAIDOC Week.

Click here to find out if there’s a local event that you can participate.

Labor’s commitment to the Uluru Statement

One of the first statements by Anthony Albanese during his victory speech on Election night as Australia’s Prime Minister-elect, after acknowledging the traditional owners of the land where he stood, was to promise that Labor will commit “in full” to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

This means that the government will conduct a referendum on whether a First Nations voice is to be enshrined into the constitution, and a Makarrata commission convened to supervise a process of agreement-making and truth-telling. If the referendum is passed, it will provide a permanent form of representation from which First Nations can advocate for their peoples to the parliament and government.

Labor has promised to hold a referendum on the matter in its first term of government, most likely in mid-2024.

How the workplace can be more inclusive for Indigenous Australians

A survey of 1,033 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers across Australia, conducted by the Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research and Diversity Council Australia, found that:

• About four in every five respondents (78%) said they felt sharing their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background at work was important.
• More than a quarter said they didn’t feel their perspectives and experiences were valued, and they didn’t feel comfortable talking about their culture.
• Almost two-thirds said they experienced what we have termed high “identity strain” (the strain employees feel when they themselves, or others, view their identity as not meeting the norms or expectations of the dominant culture in the workplace).
• Well over a third (39%) said they felt a “high cultural load”.
• 38% said they felt they had been treated unfairly because of their Indigenous background.
• 59% have heard comments about how they looked or “should look” as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.
• 44% said they had been subject to racial slurs.

This report highlighted the importance of organisations to implement strategies of inclusion for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. This can be achieved by:

1. Building and maintaining relationships with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
2. Being active and participating in First Nations events such as NAIDOC Week, National Reconciliation Week, Mabo Day, National Sorry Day, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day and many more local events.
3. Investing in First Nations people by providing meaningful employment, training, and career opportunities.
4. Creating a workplace that promotes First Nations language, culture, and spiritual connections to land and their environment.
5. Acknowledging, at every opportunity, the First Nations’ people as the traditional owners of the land in which a meeting is held.
6. Asking for, and responding to, feedback about what Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander staff have to say about what it’s like to work within the company.
7. Ensuring any Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander-related work is led and informed by Indigenous people.
8. Understanding and recognising identity strain and educating non-Indigenous staff about how to interact with their Indigenous colleagues in ways that reduce this.
9. Consulting with Indigenous staff on how to minimise cultural load while increasing cultural safety. This will require honest discussion and probably the commitment of resources.
10. Combatting workplace racism by making complaint mechanisms clear, training managers to recognise and address racism, and never brushing racial incidents under the carpet.
11. Looking to high-impact initiatives that evidence-based research shows increases Indigenous employees’ well-being and retention.

It’s the responsibility of all Australians to ensure the truth telling continues and that historical events can be acknowledged so that we as a whole nation can continue the journey of healing together.

Our specialist helpline

At Converge, we understand that people face many challenges, in and out of the workplace, that requires specialised support. If your organisation is in partnership with Converge, you may have access to specialist support (available during business hours) in addition to your existing Employee Assistance Program services. You may even have access to our specialist First Nations Helpline — check with your employer.

Our experienced consultants are either Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders themselves or have undertaken specialist training in cultural awareness. We provide a safe space for you to talk to someone who can empathise with your issues and provide support. Our services have been developed by First Nations consultants to provide culturally safe, secure, culturally responsible and deliver professional support.