As a provider of public services and spaces, a core part of GMCT’s purpose is to deliver social value to our customers and the broader community. Part of this is our commitment to reconciliation, and strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people, for the benefit of all Australians.
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Our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)
Our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is the first of four phases within the Reconciliation Australia RAP framework and outlines our commitment to reconciliation with First Nations peoples.
The RAP maps out how GMCT can continue developing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders, and opportunities for impact and influence GMCT has in the broader cemeteries and deathcare sector. As our first RAP, it will also allow us to lay the foundations for and ensure the sustainability of our future RAPs and reconciliation initiatives.
The RAP sets out 13 actions for us to implement over the next 12 months. These actions will improve our business practices and provide greater opportunities for and increase our understanding of First Nations peoples.
The actions fall under four categories:
Relationships
Respect
Opportunities
Governance.
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Our commitment to First Nations peoples
A core commitment we’ve made to our customers and community is to develop and manage our cemeteries in perpetuity. This requires us to take into consideration the histories and stories of all those who have connections to our sites.
We are committed to working with the First Nations peoples of both the Bunurong and Wurundjeri lands, who were custodians of the lands we operate on long before our cemeteries were established.
GMCT’s values as an organisation are compassion, respect, integrity and sustainability, and these will be central to our approach in implementing our RAP. Our progress against the RAP objectives will be reported within our corporate reporting framework alongside other strategic plans such as the Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, Gender Equality Action Plan and Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Pan.
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You can download and read our RAP by clicking below.
Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
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Artwork: ‘Boordup Durt – Comfort from the Stars’ by Simone Thomson, Wurundjeri-Woi-Wurrung/Yorta-Yorta.
Acknowledgement of Country
GMCT operates across the lands of both the Bunurong People and the Wurundjeri People. We acknowledge them as the traditional owners. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging, and Aboriginal Elders of other communities who may use our sites and services.