Our Pathway to Reconciliation

For many years, SXP have maintained a stateled approach to the support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned businesses and the engagement of First Nations Peoples within our workforce. Individual team members have silently led various local initiatives and projects that, unfortunately, have generally lacked leadership oversight and national adoption. This has largely been due to a lack of communication to our wider teams and the absence of a central group of influencers to develop and drive these activities. It became apparent that we could – and should – do better.

Observing the growing chorus of Australian organisations “walking the walk” by publishing a RAP and publicly defining their vision and commitment, we knew it was time to change our approach – for the betterment of both our existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and the community at large. We were inspired to put out a “call to arms” across our workforce, seeking those within our business with an interest and passion to shape and formalise SXP’s reconciliation journey...and the RAP Working Group was formed.

In looking at our approach to implement our RAP, we have developed the acronym ROAR to summarise the overarching goal of our reconciliation journey.

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To offer education, employment and support for local economies, through training initiatives, recruitment methods and sourcing goods and services from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses. We aim to increase the participation and representation of First Nations Peoples in our business, by creating opportunities which promote inclusion and help to transform lives.

To formally, publicly and sincerely accept the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Nations Peoples of Australia and emphasise the importance of our diversity and inclusion policies and activities.

To make a difference and succeed in our reconciliation efforts will rely on us supporting our teams as they engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, helping them to develop respectful and beneficial relationships. A R

To respect the rights and interests of all our stakeholders and the communities in which we operate. We support our people in learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, cultures, histories and achievements, encouraging a culturally safe and inclusive workplace.

The SXP RAP Working Group meets regularly to discuss strategies on how we will achieve our objectives.

Having received the support of our executive team and state managers, our focus is on creating awareness within our wider teams, generating interest in our activities and ultimately changing the ways in which we source our suppliers, engage our workers and interact with our communities.

We will do this by:

Developing an engagement and communication strategy, providing streamlined and direct distribution of information between the RAP Working Group and our frontline teams

Incorporating this engagement and communication through multiple channels: including toolbox meetings, social media posts, website blogs and internal company intranet posts, and as part of our recruitment and onboarding process

Working closely with national functional managers and individual state managers to implement the required data collection methodologies, policy and procedure changes and other actions required to meet each of the deliverables

Monitor the effectiveness of our activities and identify opportunities for improvement

Continue convening the RAP Working Group on a regular basis, driving the initiatives and working with our state and national teams to implement the changes