AISSA’S FIRST ‘STRETCH’ RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN IS LAUNCHED
The Premier of South Australia, the Hon Steven Marshall, launches the AISSA’s Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan. This Stretch RAP builds on the major achievements of the AISSA’s 2015-2018 Innovate RAP.
Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna Elder, Major Lancelot Sumner AM (Uncle Moogy), conducts the Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony before the launch. The event is also attended by Ms Shona Reid, Reconciliation SA Executive Director and the Minister for Education, the Hon John Gardner.
Through the RAP, the AISSA implements strategies to promote reconciliation both internally and within its wider sphere of influence. Staff reflections in 2018 highlight the personal and professional impact of the journey, particularly in learning untold stories about Australia’s First Peoples and the nation’s history since European contact.
The dedicated RAP Working Group (RWG), including both staff and Aboriginal consultants, works to embed reconciliation into AISSA’s workplace practices and extend these opportunities to schools, emphasising the importance of respect, recognition, and celebration of Australia’s First Peoples.
“The RAP becomes no longer a document; it lives through the people who work here.”
The AISSA continues to base its RAP on Relationships, Respect, Opportunities, and adds a fourth action, Governance to its Stretch RAP
A key initiative of the AISSA is learning the Kaurna language of the Adelaide Plains, allowing staff to offer an Acknowledgement to Country in Kaurna and gain deeper insights into the Kaurna people’s worldview. The AISSA also promotes the Narragunnawali RAP process to its member schools, assisting over a third of them to engage with reconciliation
Carolyn Grantskalns, Uncle Moogy, Hon Steven Marshall and Shona Reid