Chevron lends a few helping hands for Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week is currently being celebrated across Australia, taking place this year from 27 May–3 June.

Australian natural gas companies work closely with First Nations people at every stage of project creation, with several producers holding Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP) in collaboration with non-profit organisation and Reconciliation Week originator Reconciliation Australia (examples include Chevron, INPEX, Woodside, KPMG, Origin and BHP).

Others still have fostered collaboration with Indigenous communities through initiatives such as youth training, fire abatement, tree plantings, sport sponsorships, scholarships, and much more. 

Chevron Australia is one such producer displaying a commitment to this year’s message that reconciliation is ‘More than a word. Reconciliation takes action’. The company launched its inaugural RAP (in the ‘Innovate’ category) in 2019 in collaboration with Aboriginal communities from the Thalanyji, Whadjuk Noongar, Kuruma Marthudunera, and Yaburara Madudhunera peoples, with a cover painted by Onslow-based Thalanyji Elder Anne Hayes.

For this year’s Reconciliation Week, the company’s Boola Moort employee network coordinated several activities, including an international virtual panel; a group walk culminating in a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture; and a collaborative art project in celebration of Reconciliation Week.

Staff were contacted to contribute to the project, writing down what reconciliation meant to them within traced images of their hands, creating a mural that was unveiled on Barrow Island, 50 kilometres off the coast of Pilbara, Western Australia.

“Reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians,” said a representative from Chevron Australia.

For more information about National Reconciliation Week, visit reconciliation.org.au.