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The Smith Family’s commitments to Australia’s First Peoples outlined in its 2017–2020 Reconciliation Action Plan

Media releases

21 August 2017

The Smith Family’s third Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), launched today, signals the organisation’s continued commitment to supporting Australia’s First Peoples to achieve self-determination and to addressing the education inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

“Our vision for reconciliation is a nation where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children fully benefit from the education and learning opportunities this nation has to offer, and are truly valued as the First Peoples of Australia through a deep respect and understanding by the broader Australian community,” said The Smith Family CEO, Dr Lisa O’Brien.

“Our RAP journey began with our 2010–2013 RAP. Our 2017–2020 Reconciliation Action Plan is a “Stretch” RAP (our second of this type), and this signifies our deep dedication to making progress across the key pillars of the RAP program – respect, relationships, and opportunities.”

At the heart of its work is the organisation’s principle of working in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families to help close the gap, especially in the key areas of education and employment.

“Our plan details the practical actions The Smith Family will take to build strong relationships, create opportunities through our corporate action, and build ongoing respect between cultures,” said Dr O’Brien.

“Through our work supporting the education of young Australians in need, we recognise that in general, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students achieve significantly poorer educational outcomes than their non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peers.

“Our RAP outlines a number of initiatives to support improvements in collaboration with students, families, schools and communities. This includes ensuring that a minimum of 15% of newly recruited students to our Learning for Life education support program are of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds,” said Dr O’Brien.

Two key areas of focus in its RAP support further positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The organisation is implementing its employment and supplier diversity strategies that were developed during the period of the second RAP.

“Our Employment Strategy reflects our desire for diversity and supports increases in the attraction, development and retention of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team members. Our Supplier Diversity Strategy will ensure that our procurement processes include a means through which, within our sphere of influence, we can support businesses owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” said Dr O’Brien.

“In addition, we continue to strengthen internal tracking and reporting systems to ensure that we can monitor progress and that our RAP commitments are met,” she added.

In developing its RAP, the organisation acknowledges the support provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

“We are grateful for the sound advice provided by the members of our Advisory Group on Issues Concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. We also thank Reconciliation Australia for its leadership and focus on continuous improvement as we implement our RAPs.

“I’m also very appreciative of the feedback provided by our team members about their levels of awareness of our RAP and its impact on their work,” said Dr O’Brien.

The Smith Family’s 2017–2020 Reconciliation Action Plan can be found here.

Media contacts:

Andrew Dickson | National Media Manager (National) - 0421 285 529 | andrew.dickson@thesmithfamily.com.au
Carla Horton | Senior Media Advisor (QLD & WA) - 0423 618 776 | carla.horton@thesmithfamily.com.au
Reid Jermyn | Media Advisor (VIC, SA & NT) - 0412 803 566 | reid.jermyn@thesmithfamily.com.au
Ben Chenoweth | Senior Media Advisor (NSW, ACT & TAS) - 0413 346 934 | ben.chenoweth@thesmithfamily.com.au

The Smith Family is a national children’s education charity that helps young Australians experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves through harnessing the power of education. We partner with around 800 Australian schools and work with over 162,000 children and young people experiencing disadvantage access our education support programs to help them overcome . For more information, visit thesmithfamily.com.au