A message from Lyall Gorman

Chief Executive Officer, Evolve Housing

At Evolve Housing, we believe in everyone’s right to live in a secure home and be part of an inclusive community. We are proud to launch our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which aims to strengthen our relationships with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities we work within.

We acknowledge the history, strength and resilience of Australia’s First Nations People culture and their continued stewardship of the land on which our business operates. Currently around 4% of our residents identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Community housing providers like Evolve Housing can play an important role in assisting members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to find housing that meets their needs. We know that we can do this best by deepening our engagement and understanding, and working in respectful relationships to increase opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

We are dedicated to offering flexible, culturally suitable housing for Indigenous Australians, while also ensuring that our communities are inclusive and our staff are well-versed in issues that may impact our residents.

Currently, we have a number of initiatives that have helped to improve our understanding of Aboriginal culture, including staff cultural competency training and close relationships with community groups.

The RAP is intended to expand upon our existing work, providing a framework to guide Evolve Housing as we refine and increase our engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and stakeholders.

As part of its creation, we undertook a gap assessment in 2017/18 to identify areas in which we felt we could improve. This was an illuminating experience for the Board and Group Executive Team. We were all inspired to contemplate the ways that we can improve our service delivery and actions to better reach and support the Aboriginal community.

I congratulate the RAP Working Group and Reconciliation Australia for their commitment and hard work in developing this plan. The RAP will help us move forward together, towards