BUILDING RESPECT AND VALUING THE CULTURE
OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST PEOPLE
“Our RAP is an expression of our values. As a builder, developer and manager of assets on land
all over Australia, we pay our respect to the First Australians, especially their Elders past and
present, as the traditional custodians of these lands for over 40,000 years.”
Steve McCann, Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Lendlease
PROGRESS MADE AND LESSONS LEARNED 2011-2015
• Cultural leave is provided for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees
(Ceremonial and NAIDOC leave are included in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Cultural Leave Policy).
• Welcome to Country and Acknowledgment of Country are now standard at
Lendlease events including Lendlease’s Annual General Meeting, Global Employee
Updates, investor and market briefings, ground breaking events, openings, and
client events - a guide on cultural protocols has been available to employees on
the Pulse (Lendlease intranet) since 2012.
• Acknowledgment of Country signage appears on all Lendlease Communities
sales suites around Australia.
• Acknowledgment of Country and cultural heritage signage has been developed in
conjunction with Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council at Barangaroo South.
• We have displayed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at major
construction project sites during National Reconciliation Week (NRW) and
NAIDOC week.
• Employee and community events have taken place in offices and on key projects
around Australia for NRW, NAIDOC week and the Anniversary of the Apology to
the Stolen Generations, and many stories have featured on the Pulse.
• Over 2,500 employees and sub-contractors have undertaken cultural
awareness training.
• We worked with the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence and Mirri Mirri
Training to fund and pilot a cultural awareness learning program.
• We have worked with Traditional Owner groups to ensure Aboriginal heritage is
respected and protected and that physical artefacts and relics are managed by
the community and repatriated according to the Elders’ directions.
• We were a founding corporate partner of the Corroboree Festival in Sydney in
2014, investing in a program to build greater understanding and respect for the
culture of First Australians.
• The Victorian businesses have sponsored the Lendlease Reconciliation Award at
the Koorie Heritage Trust’s Koori Art Show since 2013.
• We expanded our RAP Advisory Panel, inviting more Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander leaders – current and future – on to the panel which now has majority
Indigenous Australians as well as gender equality.
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