From the beginning of my internship, the vitality of the
relationship between the Aboriginal Australian’s and the company was made an
apparent priority. Ingrained in my everyday work and interactions were teams of
staff genuinely dedicated to the preservation of Traditional Land Owner
countries, artefacts, sacred sites, lawyers supporting the equality and rights
of Traditional Land Owners legal representation for agreements and the
consequent implementation and those that focused on Aboriginal business
development, employment and training. It did not take more than an hour to
realise I was immersed in an office filled with genuine beings who cared about Aboriginal
Australians and wanted a sustainable future for all affected by the mining
footprint.
Perhaps I seem
a little naïve. I have worked previously for not-for-profit, education and
government institutions, all of which had missions and visions to delivery
services for a group in need, yet none of these compared to the corporate
culture I stumbled across interning.
My first day began with NAIDOC week celebrations. Whilst numerous incredible
and inspiring West Australians, some of Aboriginal decent spoke with incredible
apt of inspiring tales that truly made me think, none made quite the same
impression as the company Head of Department. The opening speech was real, the
senior management member not only talked of the strengths and inspiring
stories, but also openly acknowledged the companies negative past history with
Aboriginal Australian’s as having ‘not always been good’. It was refreshingly
real and honest and made feel that there was opportunity for working towards a
future that has changed this, as although the past was not right, it was also
not hidden.
The organisation is now a leader in private industry for
Indigenous employment. As a team member I encountered the social license that
has been created through Aboriginal Australians support of the business. Working
alongside other teams I encountered Insights into the scholarship, employment,
business development and support programmes as well as land rights and cultural
heritage departments, all backing up the words with actions of a genuine
intention at improving the relationships with Aboriginal Australians.
There were still very real challenges. Tailoring
communication and training processes and services is critical, there were many
cross-cultural challenges and lessons to be learnt and faced on a daily basis
by our teams. On a personal level I felt these challenges sometimes there were
cross-cultural challenges. I had to ensure I worked through issues slowly –
enabling patience, respect and being mindful of challenges from others cultural
perspective. I faced cultural differences with workload expectations and
different senses of time. However these challenges were minor when compared to
the value of the input of cross-cultural perspectives and skills, such as local
understanding and a commitment to the area that most FIFO workers lacked. More
importantly, as an individual I had pride in participating in a diverse
workplace.
For more information
on this issue and other insights, utilise the following resources:
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