55 / 76
establish meaningful relationships with Indigenous
leaders and Indigenous partner organisations.
These interactions serve to enhance relations with
stakeholder groups such as
community
,
clients
and
government
.
QBE sees multiple outcomes from the secondment
program. Victoria Doherty, Head of Programs, said:
‘Through the immersion opportunity Jawun offers,
our people not only gain further appreciation
and connection with Indigenous communities
but also build cultural awareness in dealing with
various stakeholders and situations. As one of the
largest insurers of Indigenous communities and
organisations across Australia, this has helped us to
foster deeper relationships with our customers, and
create stronger links in the communities we serve.’
Warren King, former Chief Executive of the
Defence Materiel Organisation, sees the Jawun
program connecting Defence to more Indigenous
communities across Australia:
Defence has had a strong presence in places like
the Northern Territory for many years, but what
we’re seeing now through Jawun is Defence staff
engaging with communities in different ways
and where we may have had less exposure.
And by breaking down barriers we’re able to
bring those communities into Defence through
commercial pathways like the Commonwealth
procurement provisions.
For NAB, the opportunity to send secondee Steph
Stokes to Beagle Bay in the West Kimberley, gave
the bank positive recognition in the community.
Tina Bain said:
NAB has received tremendous value from giving
Steph the opportunity to do a secondment in
Beagle Bay. Steph was an amazing ambassador
for NAB, educating the Indigenous communities
about what our organisation does and how we
can work together to add value to their lives.
Corporate organisations find their partnership with
Jawun plays a role in consolidating and deepening
relationships with
clients
. The Jawun program
not only demonstrates to clients the firm’s values
around commitment to community, it can create
points of connection on Indigenous affairs. Trish
Clancy from BCG now serves on the Wunan board.
She explained: ‘It’s a great topic of connection—
commercially and more broadly. I’ve noted
Indigenous affairs is relatively high on people’s
agendas and it’s something I can speak about
at length and with credibility.’
Tracey Benson reflected on the very practical way
secondments provide insight into communities
the Department of Industry and Science serves:
‘We’re trying to engage people in the community,
and the Jawun program gives us insight on
some of those people. That’s been really useful
because we’ve found people aren’t doing things
the way we thought they were. For example, with
telecommunications technology, quite often in
remote communities the community would have
a shared wi-fi instead of individual ownership of
things, and that’s important to consider when
you’re thinking about building tools or products
for people.’
Glen Brennan, Head of Indigenous Finance &
Development at NAB, said the Jawun program
brings value to the business in the way it delivers
services to Indigenous Australians.
Returning secondees bring back both an
improved understanding of the complexity of
Indigenous culture and also an enormous belief
in the potential of Indigenous Australians. This
improves NAB’s ability to engage more effectively
to deliver our Indigenous programs and services.
The simple truth is that Jawun’s alumni are
better able to understand Indigenous issues and
meaningfully contribute to potential solutions.
Corporate partners acknowledge their reputation
and credibility among
government
stakeholders
is boosted through the Jawun connection. Trish
Clancy often deals with government and social
sectors in her role as Principal at BCG. She
explained: ‘My secondment and board position
have enriched my views on lots of the issues
I deal with from a work perspective and give me
credibility with the public service in Canberra
when I talk on these issues. When I refer to
my experience living in Halls Creek in the East
Kimberley, people respect the perspective
that brings.’
Catherine Hunter talked about the impact of
KPMG’s nine-year partnership with Jawun on
its interactions with government: ‘It has built a
reputation and recognition for us with government,
in terms of the work we do, because it
demonstrates that we are truly committed,
given the significance of our investment over
a period of time.’
CREATING VALUE FOR CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENT PARTNERS 45