Council has reached a significant milestone in its reconciliation journey, delivering all 48 actions under its inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and moving into the next phase, an Innovate RAP.
At its meeting this week, Council noted the outcomes achieved through the Reflect RAP between March 2025 and September 2026, acknowledging the significant contributions of community members and staff in shaping and implementing the plan.
“Over the past 18 months, we’ve worked alongside local Aboriginal community members, organisations and staff to turn our commitment to reconciliation into meaningful action,” said Mayor Patricia White.
“The Reflect RAP has provided Council with a framework to advance reconciliation. It has helped us strengthen relationships, increase cultural understanding and create a more inclusive and culturally safe organisation. We are one of only 18 councils in New South Wales that has an active RAP,” Cr White said.
The RAP was developed and delivered with input of Aboriginal community members and Aboriginal employees through the RAP Yarning Group, as well as a working group that included non-Aboriginal Council employees.
Some of the key achievements in the Reflect RAP have been:
- Developed Building Relationships and Anti-Discrimination Practice Guides for staff
- Introduced reconciliation learning into staff induction, including a Walking on Country film
- Increased understanding of cultural protocols through Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country resources for Council staff
- Promoted Shoalhaven Libraries’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections to the community
- Established Shoalhaven Water’s Pathways to Water Operations program, resulting in seven Aboriginal trainees joining Council in 2026
- Commissioned and displayed artwork by local Aboriginal artists across Council facilities, uniforms and vehicles.
The Innovate RAP is the second stage of the four-stage national Reconciliation Action Plan framework provided by Reconciliation Australia, the remaining stages being Stretch and Elevate. Each RAP has a mandatory set of actions that Council must complete with additional actions also encouraged.
The Innovate RAP focuses on strengthening relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, supporting their empowerment and piloting new strategies to advance reconciliation. It will be implemented over two years, with its launch planned for July 2027.
Among the mandatory actions identified in the Innovate RAP are the development of an anti-discrimination policy for Council staff, as well as a procurement strategy and a recruitment, retention and professional development strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Council staff.
Pictured above: Artwork from Council’s Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan.
