The Sydney Swans have today launched their second Reconciliation Action Plan to set out meaningful commitments to Australia’s reconciliation journey.
The RAP was launched by Swans CEO and Managing Director Andrew Ireland, along with players Lance Franklin and Dane Rampe who are members of the Club’s RAP Committee. The launch coincided with the City of Sydney’s NAIDOC Week celebrations in Hyde Park.
Sydney Swans CEO and Managing Director Andrew Ireland said Sydney is committed to playing an active role in the path to reconciliation.
“Our football club is proud of the wonderful contribution made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including the likes of Michael O’Loughlin, Adam Goodes and Lance Franklin,” Ireland said.
“We want to celebrate that contribution as well as take proactive steps to strengthen relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
“Our Club’s vision for reconciliation is for the Swans to be a leader in promoting equality and justice for the First Australians, so that players, staff and broader community have a deeper respect for and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.”
Respect, relationships and opportunities are the three key pillars of Sydney’s second RAP, which commits to:
- Address racism on and off the field through the campaign: ‘Racism. It Stops with Me’
- Formal face-to-face cultural awareness training sessions for all staff and players
- An employment strategy to increase employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to three per cent of staff across Sydney’s commercial operations
- Opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coaches with the QBE Sydney Swans Academy
- An Indigenous talent stream as part of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy
- A strategy to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses in the Sydney Swans’ supply chain
- Continued partnership with the Goodes-O’Loughlin Foundation to support education outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
- The opportunity for staff and players to take part in an Athletes and Role Models Tour of remote communities in the Northern Territory in conjunction with the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy
Through the Sydney Swans’ first Reconciliation Action Plan launched in May 2013, the Swans became the first football club in the AFL to have all staff and players undertake cultural awareness training.
Click here to download the 2016 Reconcilitation Action Plan.
