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Peter progressed to even more senior roles and
participated in a Jawun Executive Visit to Cape
York in 2010. His continued and passionate support
of Westpac’s efforts to support Indigenous
Australians through partnership with Jawun has
yielded fruit: since 2001, more than 700 Westpac
employees have participated in secondments and
personally engaged with Indigenous Australians.
Senior executives with access to large and
influential
networks
are uniquely placed to effect
real change. As well as shaping their organisations,
they can tap into other people of influence, which
can have significant flow-on effects. Jawun itself
was established through this type of network:
Graeme Wise from The Body Shop Australia,
Colin Carter from BCG, Chris Bartlett from Harvard
Business School and Ann Sherry from Westpac—
three of whom are Harvard alumni—were among
the original group to conceive the Jawun
secondment model for tackling Indigenous
disadvantage.
Martin Sheppard, National Managing Partner,
Brand and Innovation at KPMG, participated in
an Executive Visit to the East Kimberley in 2014.
He described the ideas that are generated and
commitment to Indigenous Australia that is
reignited through executive networks:
On the visit, I saw leaders of some of Australia’s
biggest corporates—NAB, Coles, Downer, IAG,
Suncorp, Freehills, Macquarie Bank—rallying
around, formulating plans and looking for
practical solutions to help break the cycle of
Indigenous disadvantage. The presence of the
Hon Fred Chaney AO was truly inspiring; his
thoughts on constitutional recognition were
immensely thought-provoking. We all left with
a true sense of responsibility for corporate
Australia to make sustained economic wellbeing
a reality for Indigenous communities.
Sean Gordon (CEO, Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council), Richard Aspinall (Regional Manager, Greater Western Australia,
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet), Mick Gooda (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner),
Peter Nash (Chairman, KPMG) and Ian Trust (Executive Chair, Wunan), East Kimberley, 2012.
Photo: Mark Jay
58 JAWUN
2015 LEARNINGS AND INSIGHTS