Our Reconciliation Action Plan
Our Vision for Reconciliation
Better Place Australia envisions an Australia where all people experience positive relationships, truly value each other and live safer, more confident lives. This means a reconciled Australia, where First Nations people feel safe, respected, valued and empowered.
As an organisation, we aspire to be a true ally to First Nations people, to learn from their ways and to provide a workplace and range of services that feel welcoming, safe and supportive for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Further, we see reconciliation as a journey for all Australians and hope to work collectively with our stakeholders and the broader community in this space moving forward.
Our Business
Better Place Australia is a not-for-profit community organisation, providing family and individual support services since 1986. We aim to strengthen individual wellbeing, support family relationships and contribute to safer, more inclusive communities. Better Place Australia operates from six main offices, including our head office in Cheltenham, and a further 22 co-locations across Victoria.
We provide services from our locations, over video and phone, and via outreach. We employ around 150 staff including psychologists, social workers, support workers, family consultants, financial counsellors and family dispute resolution practitioners.
Currently none of our staff identify as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. Our core services include family mediation, family therapy, adult and child counselling, individual and family support services, care coordination, financial counselling, elder abuse prevention, suicide prevention and postvention, and psychoeducational group programs.
In addition, we perform community engagement, primary prevention, research and advocacy work. In 2022, BPA provided services to over 10,000 clients and delivered over 48,000 sessions of support, including for some of the most vulnerable communities across Victoria.
Better Place Australia engages with a broad range of stakeholders, including Federal, State and Local Government, Primary Health Networks, community and allied health care providers, family and relationship services, family violence services, legal services, schools and youth services, and the community.
These relationships provide valuable opportunities for mutual learning and influence, and through our RAP we look forward to developing existing and new collaborations to extend our reach and impact in relation to Reconciliation.
Our RAP
Better Place Australia recognised the opportunity to actively contribute to reconciliation in Australia in 2019, when we created our first plan for reconciliation and established a working group. The working group has continued to meet regularly to reflect on and learn about reconciliation. The group have led the implementation of Acknowledgement of Country, and coordinated events for National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week.
The group have also coordinated cultural safety training (in the form of online learning modules for all staff) and regularly shares information and resources related to reconciliation internally via our ‘Loop’. We are now excited to align ourselves with Reconciliation Australia through the creation of our first Innovate RAP.
Our RAP Working Group is endorsed by our CEO and Board and supported by Aboriginal Elder Uncle Shane Charles, a proud Yorta Yorta, Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung man. The RAP group is comprised of the following members:
- Education and Community Engagement Lead (RAP Chair)
- Executive Manager Human Resources (Senior RAP Champion)
- Social Media and Communications Coordinator
- Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner and Team Leader
- Hospital Outreach Post-Suicidal Engagement (HOPE) Support
Coordinator:
- Care Finder Practitioner and Support Officer
- Children’s Counsellor
The strength of our current RAP working group is its inclusion of members from across various levels and services of the organisation. Since we do not have any internal staff members who can provide First Nations representation, we reached out to engage with Uncle Shane Charles and are very grateful for his guidance and wisdom in the development of this RAP.
Moving forward, we are committed to building and strengthening relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and to ensuring the work we do is guided by First Nations voices.
Our Relationships
Better Place Australia was established to strengthen and support relationships, and this continues to be at the heart of all we do. We recognise the special place held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and of the important connection between relationships and reconciliation.
In alignment with our organisational commitment to making a difference, we seek to build genuine relationships with First Nations people, particularly those in the regions where we work, to learn from and with them, and to be an ally in reconciliation.
Download the full Reconciliation Action Plan here including actions, deliverables, timeline and responsibilities with respect to Relationships, Respect, and Opportunities.
The Uluru Statement From The Heart
Better Place Australia supports the Uluru Statement From The Heart. You can visit our Uluru Statement page here.
