NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK

National Reconciliation Week - A week that gives all Australians an opportunity to reflect on what has and what has not been achieved over the last 50 years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For me the week is bitter sweet, sure there has been progress but it has been slow, way too slow and it is frustrating and at times it is hard to control the frustration I feel.

I am a fan of Reconciliation Action Plans, I know they assist in setting a roadmap for organisations to follow, the plans give an opportunity to celebrate the successes and learn from the strategies that have not worked. I have found in my career that the burden to create successful platforms can be all consuming and create extra pressures. If I had a dollar for each time I heard WE HAD AN ABORIGINAL PERSON ONCE BUT IT DIDN'T WORK OUT! Often the focus on apparent failure and the blame of an individual in that failure can set back any progress made.

So for me National Reconciliation Week is an opportunity to reflect and review the overall position the country is in and personally it is an opportunity to reflect on the many successes and incredible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent I have had the opportunity to work with, employ and learn from. We are still some way from true equity and it seems we need to achieve this goal brick by brick, bit my bit.

WELL THAT'S MY RANT - Take some time this week to learn what Reconciliation means to you - is it something that means anything - we are all in this together, true reconciliation will make Australia a greater country, for this to occur we all need to participate and AIM FOR EXCELLENCE