Reconciliation Action Plan
Leidos Australia has developed a Reconciliation Action Plan not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it makes good business sense. As a proudly Australian organisation, we understand our responsibility to contribute towards reconciliation - within our company, our industry and in the communities in which we operate.
Our vision is for Leidos Australia to pay its role in supporting reconciliation by fostering a culture that promote equity, by establishing opportunities for First Nations People both within our organisation and through business partnerships, and by encouraging positive action throughout the Defence Industry.
We believe Leidos Australia can best practically contribute to advancing reconciliation by taking meaningful action in these key areas:
- We will provide a culturally safe environment for First Nations peoples by participating in activities, celebrations and learning opportunities; ensuring we are being inclusive at all times by providing a respectful and open workplace;
- We will ensure that our people understand what reconciliation is, why it is so important and have the opportunity to participate and celebrate in First Nations peoples activities;
- We will identify opportunities for First Nations peoples targeted recruitment, including the introduction of dedicated traineeships, and then ensuring we provide equal opportunity for career advancement within Leidos Australia; and
- We will increase our awareness of, and engagement with, First Nations’ enterprises, ensuring that they are considered equally when supply chain decisions are made, and increasing our annual spend with First Nations’ businesses.
Here are our 2024 highlights:
- February - we engaged external First Nations people and consultants to provide advice on how we could improve our recruitment, employment strategies and professional development for First Nations people within Leidos.
- March - we updated our list of contacts we could call upon for Welcome To Country, Smoking Ceremonies and other support and advice at our key sites and started building relationships with those organisations and individuals.
- April - we developed and implemented recruitment, retention and professional development strategies for our First Nations team members.
- May - we marked National Reconciliation Week (NRW) by hosting a online panel discussion with iDiC's CEO & Director Adam Goodes, Director Strategic Partnerships Kerrie Howard and Chairman & Director Michael McLeod, to which all employees were invited, about the benefits of supplier diversity, our relationship with iDiC, the current state of reconciliation, what is needed next and how we can all contribute. Our RAP committee also attended events in their local area. We communicated our Reconciliation Action Plan progress to all employees through our internal newsletter and we conducted a review to understand the cultural learning requirements for our people.
- July - we celebrated NAIDOC Week by hosting Ngunnawal / Wiradjuri elder Auntie Serena Williams who talked to our people about the Week - what it is, why we celebrate it and what this year’s theme meant. She will also talked about Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country – what these practices are, how they differ, why they continue to be important and how we can personalise our own Acknowledgements. We supported our First Nations team members to attend their their own community events and communicated our ongoing commitment to reconciliation publicly.
- September - we completed and submitted the annual RAP Impact Measurement Questionnaire to Reconciliation Australia.
- October - we engaged First Nations advisors to provide advice on our antidiscrimination policy as well as conducting a review of existing HR policies and procedures to identify existing antidiscrimination provisions. We also reviewed our Indigenous Procurement Procedure, our budget for the next steps in our Indigenous Traineeship program and collaborated with other like-minded organisations to develop innovative approaches to further advance reconciliation.
- November - we developed, implemented and communicated our updated antidiscrimination policy to our team members.
- December - we reported our RAP achievements, challenges and learning through our internal intranet, website and LinkedIn account.
We look forward to continuing our commitment in 2025!
Click on the link below to view our Reconciliation Action Plan.