14 July 2016

BMD celebrates NAIDOC Week through traditional storytelling and dance

BMD works to create a culture that values and utilises the contributions of people with different backgrounds, and through a genuine and honest commitment to deliver positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people, we see our ability to drive opportunity. Throughout July, BMD is celebrating the history, culture and achievements of ATSI peoples across the country as part of NAIDOC Week.

Last week, our Victorian team learnt more about NAIDOC including local traditional owners and their history, with an event attended by a local elder and an Indigenous dance performer.

Uncle Larry Walsh, a local Aboriginal cultural leader, joined the celebration, providing a Welcome to Country and a story about his ancient oral traditions. At the event, Uncle Larry shared a number of stories from his own experiences and the experiences of his people to educate BMD employees about the traditional owners of the land on which the Victorian team work.

This was followed by a dance performance by Suri, a well-known performer in the Melbourne theatre, television and dance circuits. Suri’s performance encompassed the ‘coming together of the spirit’, which is a local saying springing from his hometown of Broome.

The event was a great success and provided an engaging and informative session for our employees to learn more about NAIDOC Week and its background.

As a construction business, we acknowledge the land on which we operate has Traditional Owners and we seek to preserve the cultural heritage values of this land by understanding the potential impact of our works.

By celebrating traditional events such as NAIDOC Week, we are providing our workforce with an education to our commitment in delivering positive outcomes within local communities. This is something BMD was founded upon with our approach to business firmly underpinned by a philosophy to ‘support the local communities in which we operate’.

BMD proudly supports inclusion and diversity in the workplace and we are proud of the contribution our Indigenous employees make to our business.

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