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Warning: First Nations Peoples are warned that the following content may contain images and voices of deceased persons.

Reconciliation Action Plan

The 2021–2023 Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan provides a framework for parishes, schools, ministries and Commissions to engage with and support the national Reconciliation movement.

• A message from Archbishop Phillip Aspinall

• A message from Karen Mundine, CEO Reconciliation Australia

• Our vision for Reconciliation

• Our reach and spheres of influence

• Our Reconciliation Action Plan

• A message from The Rev'd Canon Bruce Boase, RAP Working Group Chair

• Our Artist - Stevie O'Chin

• Seven Marks of Mission

• An Overview of the Reconciliation Action Plan

• Prayer | More than a word - Reconciliation takes action

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I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which the Anglican Church Southern Queensland (ACSQ) worships and serves and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

I welcome the launch of our second Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan and pray that it will add impetus to our efforts towards Reconciliation with our First Nations brothers and sisters. This new RAP comes as our Diocesan family pursues the theme of ‘Being Together’ over 2020–2022.

We have committed ourselves to explore how we can be together in ways that acknowledge difference and disagreement, yet strengthen respect, communication and ultimately, love. Each of the three years has a subtheme that approaches ‘Being Together’ from a different angle.

In 2020 our Diocesan subtheme was ‘Practising Peacemaking’ as we acknowledged difference and responded to conflict based on gospel values. In 2021 we will be ‘Nurturing Relationships’ by focusing on how, in Christ, we relate to and communicate with each other when we are not in conflict to build deep bonds founded on trust and strong foundations for times when inevitable differences will arise. In 2022 we will be ‘Embracing Joy’ by celebrating the way differences help to make us whole and the importance of diversity in our unity.

Our commitment to Reconciliation with the implementation of our new Innovate RAP takes on additional poignancy as we focus on Being Together. The themes are especially important in the context of relationships with our First Nations brothers and sisters.

I thank the members of the RAP Working Group for their dedication in drawing together and implementing the new Innovate RAP and I pray that we will embrace its principles. I hope that Reconciliation with First Nations peoples will be foremost in our minds as we seek to implement the RAP in the service of Christ and in ‘Being Together’.

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Reconciliation Australia commends ACSQ on the formal endorsement of its second Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan.

Since 2006, RAPs have provided a framework for organisations to leverage their structures and diverse spheres of influence to support the national reconciliation movement.

With over 2.3 million people now either working or studying in an organisation with a RAP, the program’s potential for impact is greater than ever. ACSQ continues to be part of a strong network of more than 1,100 corporate, government, and not-for-profit organisations that have taken goodwill and transformed it into action.

The four RAP types, Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate — allow RAP partners to continuously strengthen reconciliation commitments and constantly strive to apply learnings in new ways.

An Innovate RAP is a crucial and rewarding period in an organisation’s reconciliation journey. It is a time to build the strong foundations and relationships that ensure sustainable, thoughtful, and impactful RAP outcomes into the future.

An integral part of building these foundations is reflecting on and cataloguing the successes and challenges of previous RAPs. Learnings gained through effort and innovation are invaluable resources that the ACSQ will continuously draw upon to create RAP commitments rooted in experience and maturity.

These learnings extend to your organisation using the lens of reconciliation to better understand its core business, sphere of influence, and diverse community of staff and stakeholders.

The RAP program’s emphasis on relationships, respect, and opportunities gives organisations a framework from which to foster connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples rooted in mutual collaboration and trust.

This Innovate RAP is an opportunity for ACSQ to strengthen these relationships, gain crucial experience, and nurture connections that will become the lifeblood of its future RAP commitments. By enabling and empowering staff to contribute to this process, ACSQ will ensure shared and cooperative success in the long-term.

Gaining experience and reflecting on pertinent learnings will ensure the sustainability of your organisation’s future RAPs and reconciliation initiatives, providing meaningful impact toward Australia’s reconciliation journey.

Congratulations ACSQ on your second Innovate RAP and I look forward to following your ongoing reconciliation journey.

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The Anglican Church Southern Queensland is part of the Anglican Church of Australia, which is divided into five Ecclesiastical Provinces and one extra-provincial Diocese. It is further divided into a total of 23 Dioceses.

As an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion, the ACSQ is connected to other Anglican Churches internationally.

The Anglican Church Southern Queensland is connected to the following organisations:

• The Anglican Board of Mission works with First Nations Peoples and overseas communities as the national Anglican mission agency

• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council (NATSIAC) is a council formed by General Synod of The Anglican Church of Australia. NATSIAC seeks to be a voice for all First Nations Peoples. NATSIAC is affiliated internationally with the Anglican Indigenous Network

• The Anglican Indigenous Network is comprised of English-speaking Indigenous Anglicans

• Wontulp-Bi-Buya College based in Cairns, supports the development of First Nations church and community leaders through study programmes leading towards in theology, suicide prevention, addictions management and community development

• Nungalinya College is the premier Combined Churches Training College for Indigenous Australians. The college is formally supported by the Anglican, Uniting and Catholic churches of the Northern Territory and is situated in Casuarina, a northern suburb of Darwin

• Yalari is a not-for-profit organisation offering education scholarships for First Nations children from regional, rural, and remote communities.

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Significant changes that have been incorporated into the new Innovate RAP include:

• raising awareness of the Uluru Statement from the Heart (#ulurustatement) and campaigns such as #StopDeathsInCustody and #RaiseTheAge

• engagement with and supporting the 150th anniversary of ‘The Coming of the Light’ celebrations

• expanding on procurement actions, for example:

  • developing and implementing a First Nations procurement strategy

  • developing and communicating a list of First Nations businesses for procurement of goods and services across ACSQ

  • investigating Supply Nation membership

  • developing commercial relationships with First Nations businesses and artists

• human resources – recruitment and retention strategies.

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I, The Rev’d Canon Bruce Boase (Wakka Wakka man), am Chair of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland’s Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group. I was ordained as clergy in this Diocese in 2004 and I have been a member of Synod since that time and was a lay member for three years previously.

Over more than 20 years, the Anglican Church Southern Queensland has explored ministry with First Nations peoples in the Diocese and Reconciliation with First Nations peoples. What has always arisen is a feeling or movement towards getting closer together – between First Nations peoples and the rest of the community. This movement or feeling is Reconciliation. Since colonisation there has been a need for Reconciliation nationally. This need has been acknowledged by our Diocese. To show how important this is to the Diocese and to try to meet that need and to come closer together, Diocesan Council authorised the appointment of a RAP Coordinator. Our first RAP was an Innovate RAP. This has now been superseded by this new RAP, also an Innovate RAP, with additional commitments.

What this means is that we are still working towards Reconciliation. This work will never cease. It is a long and hard, but mutually healing, road. We are called to this road. As Christians we are called to reconcile one with another and only then can we truly reconcile ourselves with God. So, we live this call. Historically though, the process of Reconciliation has been challenging. The whole Diocesan body needs to keep working towards a true coming together. In this work, there cannot be enough stress put upon the four core pillars of our RAP, these being Relationships, Respect, Opportunities and Governance. Our life in Christ is all about Relationships. Respect for one another and for the each other’s cultures are vital in moving forward. In going forward then and only then will we see the Opportunities that will arise out of this great coming together. In our commitment to Reconciliation, we also recognise the critical need for good Governance.

In 2017, The Uluru Statement from the Heart was issued by the largest representative group of First Nations peoples of this land ever. In this Statement there is a yearning to engage in a process of truth-telling and recognise the true history of this land. The need for a First Nations Voice in Parliament, enshrined in the Australian Constitution, is also vital. We as a Diocese now need to ALL support The Uluru Statement from the Heart and work consistently towards a true coming together, a true Reconciliation, in Christ.

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Three stunning interrelated Aboriginal dot paintings, representing our Diocesan Regions and commissioned by the Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group, are travelling individually around our Diocese and are being displayed as a reminder of our Christian call to Reconciliation. Each artwork represents a geographical faith Region of our Diocesan community – the Northern, Southern and Western Regions – and join together as one united piece, with the Pacific Ocean bordering the joint work’s right-hand-side.

These three artworks tie in directly with the Diocesan Reconciliation Action Plan and will travel around our community as a reminder of our Christian call to Reconciliation. At key Diocesan events the three paintings will come together as a symbol of ‘Being Together’ and that we are one Church.

The dot paintings were created by talented emerging artist Stevie O’Chin, who belongs to the Kabi Kabi and Koa peoples on her father’s side and the Yuin people on her mother’s side. Stevie O’Chin said that the intricate circles in each artwork represent our Diocese’s Marks of Mission and share common motifs.

“Each circle has ‘U shapes’ that surround the symbols – these symbolise people gathering together to worship, and the blue dotted rings around each symbol in the circles mark the spiritual healing power of God,” Ms O’Chin said. “The seven symbols painted within circles in the tri-Regional landscape represent the seven Marks of Mission of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland.”

Dot painting is an ancient and deeply symbolic practice of the world’s oldest continuously living culture and started with sand, soil, and body ‘canvases’. Now one of the most internationally recognised Aboriginal art forms, First Nations artists commenced dot painting on framed stretched canvases in the 1970s.

Ms O’Chin said, “that she carries on a family legacy of Aboriginal dot painting. My paintings are inspired by my surroundings and stories told to me by my parents and family elders.”

Executive Director of Parishes and other Mission Agencies Commission and RAP Working Group member Dr Stephen Harrison said, “that the three artworks support the Diocesan Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and symbolise our Diocesan community’s collective commitment to Reconciliation.

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Relationships | Pages 20-27

The Anglican Church Southern Queensland seeks to work in partnership with First Nations peoples by developing a relationship of mutual trust and respect, which is at the heart of this mission. This RAP provides the basis for all Commissions, ministries, and agencies to develop connections and partnerships with First Nations peoples and share experiences, thus promoting and fostering Reconciliation throughout the Diocese and the broader community.

The past relationship between churches and First Nations communities has been complicated. The ACSQ continues to move forward and reach out to communities for mutual healing by developing productive programmes and initiatives that connect, engage and partner with First Nations peoples.

Respect | Pages 28-32

The Anglican Church Southern Queensland recognises that learning about the cultures and histories of First Nations peoples is fundamental to the RAP in reconciling relationships. Non-Indigenous Australians are the beneficiaries of the custodianship of Traditional Owners for their respective Country which warrants respect, gratitude, and celebration.

This RAP fosters opportunities for all ACSQ Commissions, ministries, and agencies to acknowledge the cultures and survival of First Nations peoples,
locally and nationally, by respecting cultural protocols, celebrating significant events in the First Nations calendar, and learning about our shared history.

Opportunities | Pages 33-35

The Anglican Church Southern Queensland recognises the injustices that have led to disadvantage among First Nations peoples and seeks to continue the healing process and the breaking down of existing barriers. The RAP seeks to support Close the Gap objectives for First Nations peoples regarding health, employment, and wellbeing.

This RAP provides the basis for increasing the involvement of First Nations peoples in the ACSQ through employment, ministry, and procurement.

Governance | Pages 36-37

In our commitment to Reconciliation, the Anglican Church Southern Queensland understands the importance of good governance and the need for First Nations peoples’ voices to be included wherever possible in decision making. This will be a key focus over the next two years. There will also be a stronger focus on how we monitor, evaluate and report on RAP outcomes. We would also like to better celebrate our key achievements towards Reconciliation both internally and externally.

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Let's work together in Reconciliation
​​​​​​​Yo-wah ngambli balka dahgu yaga na Reconciliation

Heal country ... Heal us
Djarr yaga ... Ngali-ba yaga

We thank Elder Gaja Kerry Charlton for the translation of this text into Yugarabul language.