A Message From Our CEO
I am delighted to formalise our commitment to develop and strengthen relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia’s (CDC) Australia-wide Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
As one of Australia’s leading transport providers, connecting people to places and communities is at the heart of everything we do, so we are driven to continue developing an inclusive and respectful culture that embraces the diversity of the communities we serve and the people we employ. It remains my personal and the company’s commitment to foster a culturally inclusive workplace which results in services that support, understand and respect the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
With our Reflect RAP, launched in 2022, we set out to connect our people to a better understanding of Australia’s histories and the cultures that exist across our nation and help bring our people and communities together by building genuine relationships and longstanding partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
As part of our reconciliation journey, we have established new and strengthened existing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, including through our partnership with the Clontarf Foundation. We have built awareness amongst our employees of the importance of the RAP itself, driven excellent engagement and participation in National Reconciliation Week and introduced a range of cultural learning opportunities for our employees. Throughout, we have ensured that these activities were driven by strong governance in the form of our RAP Working Group, whose commitment will help guide the next stage of our journey towards reconciliation.
Our Innovate RAP is a natural progression of our commitment to deepen our relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and establish the best approaches to advance reconciliation. With this Innovate RAP, we set out our plan to build on these foundations and highlight the thoughtful, intentional steps we are taking on the next stage of our reconciliation journey. At CDC, we recognise the importance of engaging with and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that enrich the fabric of our nation.
CDC’s vast operational footprint across Australia and our close connections to the communities we serve, means we have the opportunity and the influence to lead and implement initiatives that foster respect and positive relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider communities.
I am delighted to share this Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2024 – 2026 (RAP). Working closely with Reconciliation Australia, I look forward to seeing the initiatives within it take shape as we do our part to advance reconciliation across Australia.
Nicholas Yap
Chief Executive Officer
ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia
Our Reconciliation Vision
Our vision for this Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is to create an inclusive, culturally safe and diverse organisation that is valued by our customers and staff, built on a foundation of understanding and respect.
Our organisation and the transport industry as a whole are in the unique position of serving a broad range of communities, cultures and customers with varied linguistic and cultural needs and expectations. As such our responsibility as an organisation that serves a broad range of communities across Australia and the vision that underpins that responsibility, is to create an organisation that truly understands and embraces the diversity of the communities we serve and the people we employ. It is only through a better understanding of our communities and demonstration of cultural understanding, empathy and awareness, that we can provide a best-in-class service for all of our customers, which in turn will elevate respect for our drivers and help reduce anti-social behaviour.
Our Commitment
The Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) serves as a comprehensive guide, sharing the key pillars and deliverables ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia (CDC) will employ to advance reconciliation in the years to come.
Embracing an Innovate RAP not only advances the objectives set out in our previous Reflect RAP but will also see us build upon existing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders throughout our national operations.
Our commitment will include expanding and developing our sphere of influence before
identifying and implementing particular actions or initiatives nationally. Through this collaborative approach, we aim to deliver tangible outcomes that are impactful, mutually advantageous, and enduring.
Our RAP Artwork
Connecting to Country and People, 2022 by Luke Penrith
For thousands of years First Nations clans and tribes used traditional trading routes across their country and neighbouring nations.
The artwork is a modern day route, which connects people to different villages, suburbs and towns.
Throughout the journey the landscape changes from the large circular tunnels along the coastline, across the green and brown mountains and valleys, and through the open plains, past rippling rivers, waterholes and mountains.
Supporting the journey is a network of orange paths. These paths and roundabouts create moments of communication and acknowledgment between people, and link people, places and communities in genuine connection.
Projects With the Community
Clontarf Foundation
The Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, life skills, self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. For over five years, we have worked closely with the Clontarf Foundation in the Northern Territory, providing safety talks to Clontarf academy students, supporting Clontarf students to visit our depots and learn about the industry, while also increasing our employees’ understanding of the Foundation and their goals by providing opportunities for staff to participate in immersion experiences with the Foundation. This relationship was recently formalised into an official partnership in 2024, which allows us to work with the Clontarf Foundation on a national basis, providing more opportunities for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men to access education, improve life skills and develop employment prospects, through additional funding for an academy and opportunities for our staff across the country to experience the good work the foundation is doing across Australia.
Larrakia Nation
We are continuing to develop our relationship with the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation and support them with a strong line up of projects and initiatives in the community. The Larrakia Nation Peoples have been invaluable in helping us raise cultural awareness and understandings of the local Indigenous culture within our driver and employee ranks.
Together, we are conveying the important message of respect in both the workplace and with First Nations people, which is contributing to harmonious, respectful communication and a safe work environment across our operations in the Northern Territory.
Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation
We are also continuing to support the work of the Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation, including transporting participants to and from the Elders Olympics, believed to be the largest gathering of Elders in New South Wales. Elders from various Nations across NSW attend and participate in some healthy competition and camaraderie.
Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation is an integral part of our work in the community, and through Baabayn Elders’ participation at important events to celebrate First Nations culture. such as NAIDOC week and National Reconciliation Week, our staff and the broader community benefit from a platform for First Nations voices to be heard and the sharing of cultural experiences.
