Our 2020-2022 Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) focused on cultural learning and cultural immersion opportunities for staff, developing and implementing cultural protocols, developing and implementing Aboriginal stakeholder and community engagement plans and partnership agreements.

We have made good progress against our RAP goals in many areas. We are achieving goals in relation to promoting reconciliation through active engagement with staff and engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community advisors on ensuring our workplace is culturally safe.

Some aspects of our RAP goals are proving more challenging, such as our work on our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment and retention. This has been slower than first hoped and will remain a key focus.

A notable highlight from our activity included our sponsorship of Closing the Gap Day – South Australia’s largest health event for Aboriginal and Torres Islander peoples. The Closing the Gap Day provides an important opportunity to learn about and connect with local services that support people’s health and wellbeing. The day is further recognition of how we are progressing on our journey towards reconciliation through active engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and stakeholders.

Our Aboriginal Community Advisory Council (ACAC) members have been influential in supporting Adelaide PHN to develop and deliver a structured cultural learning program and engage with significant events, including National NAIDOC Week and reconciliation events. Staff appreciated the sharing of history (Truth Telling), the opportunity to learn more about First Nations cultures and to be curious (Reconciliation in Action). These events, and the genuine openness and giving of time by our ACAC members, has significantly helped position our organisation to have conversations which promote a culturally appropriate and safe workplace. These conversations have progressed to consider how we can work more effectively with our commissioned service providers to ensure they are delivering culturally appropriate and safe services to community members.

We continue to learn from our experiences and these learnings will be incorporated into the development of our next RAP which will maintain a focus on the key elements of partnerships, employment and procurement.