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Secondees’ attitudes towards place and community
changed as their understanding of Indigenous culture
deepened. Pete Goss, formerly of BCG, explained:
I’d heard about connection to country and
sometimes it comes across as a purely mystical
thing, but when you’re walked around the land by
someone from community and they point out the
place where people gave birth or the place where
justice was handed out, it suddenly dawned
on me that it’s a deeply historical and practical
connection to land.
Studies in the field of social psychology have
shown that ‘general attitudes toward ethnic
or religious groups are good predictors of
behavioural patterns’.
39
Secondees and Executive
Visit participants with changed attitudes towards
Indigenous Australia often go on to demonstrate
changes in their behaviour
. Secondees identified
several new behaviours—including deeper
connection to community, greater interest in
Indigenous affairs and more inclusive behaviours
in the workplace—that were linked to their
Jawun experience.
40
Renee Schicks from Commonwealth Bank Australia
lives in a seaside suburb of Sydney and completed
her six-week secondment in nearby La Perouse.
She feels more connected to her local Indigenous
community since her Jawun experience:
I was fairly ignorant before about what the
Indigenous organisations around here did. But
now I have that insight, I can look around my
area and say, ‘Oh, look, the Land Council has
sponsored the local touch team and kids are
getting involved in touch’ or ‘There’s the aged-
care group and they’re off to take the Aunties
to arts and crafts day’. There are so many things
the local Indigenous community has gotten
involved in that you don’t know about until you
get in there and start learning.
Secondees and Executive Visit participants had an
increased awareness of, and interest in Indigenous
affairs following a Jawun experience. Martina Friedl
from Westpac explained: ‘After the secondment,
all these things—like Mabo and land rights—were
clearer to me, and it felt like I started reading
or hearing about them everywhere. I was more
tuned in to it after the secondment.’
Based on feedback from partner organisations,
behavioural changes were also demonstrated in
the workplace, with secondees becoming more
inclusive of others, or adopting a more inclusive
Source: Jawun Alumni Survey, 2014.
FIGURE 9:
AREAS OF INVOLVEMENT WITH INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA FOR JAWUN SECONDEES FOLLOWING THEIR SECONDMENT
Greater advocacy on Indigenous-related issues
Greater curiosity and interest in Indigenous affairs
Pro bono volunteering in Indigenous-related field
Career path in Indigenous-related field
Indigenous mentoring program
Other
Indigenous-related board position
82%
81%
27%
20%
17%
12%
6%
50 JAWUN
2015 LEARNINGS AND INSIGHTS