Fujitsu Australia recently marked an important step in its ongoing commitment to equity for Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people with the launch of its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
The RAP is Fujitsu Australia’s 12 month plan to create sustainable opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander focusing on four key areas; relationships, respect, opportunities, tracking and progress.
The RAP seeks to:
- Implement initiatives to assist the employment and opportunities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
- Increase Fujitsu Australia’s employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and Fujitsu’s use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suppliers in their supply chains, in the delivery of services; and
- Improve the relationship, understanding and respect of Fujitsu Australia’s employees with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Fujitsu Australia’s CEO Mike Foster hailed the launch of the RAP as an important milestone in Fujitsu’s diversity journey; “The ICT industry at large has been challenged by concerns around diversity and inclusion for some time. Fujitsu has taken a determined approach in acknowledging and adopting a series of initiatives to address these challenges within our industry. This Reconciliation Action Plan is a further commitment by Fujitsu to drive change not only within our own organisation, but within society.”
Pictured above L-R: Fujitsu Australia CEO Mike Foster,
Aunty Julie Janson Darug Elder,
Jason Timor, Deputy CEO Supply Nation and
Federal Member for Bennelong, John Alexander OAM.
This commitment was marked with a special event at Macquarie Park attended by a host of guests from across Indigenous enterprise and community, including MP and Federal Member for Bennelong John Alexander OAM.
Julie Janson, an Elder from the Burruberongal clan of Darug nation, opened with a Welcome to Country. Aunty Julie, a novelist and playwright, talked about the Aboriginal history of the Macquarie Park area and her experiences as a young woman fishing in Lane Cove River and hunting rabbits at Chatswood.
The event was attended by more than 25 external guests including senior representatives from Fujitsu’s key customers, community partners as well as leading indigenous people in the ICT industry. Liam Ridgeway, co-founder of Indigitek, a not-for-profit organisation that supports the growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), said “It’s important that global ICT enterprises like Fujitsu are able to support the development and growth of Indigenous Australians in STEM. Fujitsu’s RAP demonstrates their commitment to participate in positive and impactful change in this area and we look forward to collaborating with them on their journey.”
Pictured above: Fujitsu’s Vice President of Human Resources, Caroline Flatley with Liam Ridgeway, co-founder of Indigitek.
Guests heard about Fujitsu’s commitment to creating sustainable opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Deputy CEO of Supply Nation, the peak body that advocates and certifies Indigenous-Owned businesses, also spoke and noted the commitments in Fujitsu’s RAP to double the amount of Indigenous-owned businesses in our supply chain by 2019 (after having already doubled it from 2017-2018)
Pictured above: (Top) Minister for Bennelong, John Alexander OAM and
(bottom) Jason Timor, Deputy CEO Supply Nation addressing the audience at the Fujitsu Head Office in Macquarie Park, Sydney.
Pictured above L-R: Dr Leanne Holt, Director of Indigenous Strategy & Policy, Macquarie University,
Dr Todd Phillips, Workforce Development Coordinator, Walanga Muru (Macquarie University Indigenous Unit),
Monique Shipp, People & Culture, Bawurra Foundation and
Jesse Slok, Co-founder & MD, Bawurra Foundation.
The launch was a great celebration of this important milestone in Fujitsu’s Diversity & Inclusion journey. We look forward to communicating future initiatives and successes with you soon. The RAP can be downloaded from our website or you can view our recent Press Release here.
*: Mike Foster, CEO of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand was interviewed by David Swan of The Australian about the RAP. The article was published on 13th March 2018. You can read the article here.
