First Nations

Embedding Cultural Capabilities

Anglicare Southern Queensland acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) peoples as the first Australians and we recognise their culture, history, diversity and their deep spiritual connection to lands, waters, skies and communities.

We will continue to work together to build a service that values and respects our First Nations people. We continue to undertake a journey, increasing our awareness to embedding cultural capabilities as an everyday practice.

This artwork was made for Anglicare Southern Queensland to tell the story of how we embed cultural capabilities into everything we do. The artwork represents Anglicare. At the centre of the artwork is a love heart with four circles. This represents a campfire and the heart represents Rel8, the core foundation of how we work in partnership with clients, colleagues and others and how we translate our values into everyday work. The four circles represent the cultural capability levels of knowing, being, doing and embedding.

The four entities sitting around the campfire (represented as the ‘U’) are the Cultural Capability Domains of Systems, Organisation, Profession and Individuals. Cultural capability must be embedded into all domains.

The six musical instruments (drum, didgeridoo, shell, bullroarer, clapsticks, kulap seed pod rattle) represents our six guiding principles. This is the beat of the drum, the harmony of the sound that is communicated out to all as a guide to moving forward.

Red and Yellow meeting places represent our Services – Green and White meeting places are placed North, South, East and West and represent Governance.
The boomerang represents Organisational Development because what we put out there will return.

The four water holes in the corners represent Information, Communication, Technology and Marketing, because they are fluid and moving.

The hands and feet represent Evidence and Innovation as this requires searching, finding and building.

When we Rel8 with each other to build respectful relationships, we learn together, our hearts change towards each other and we treat each other better. We adapt to each other’s ways of knowing, being and doing. We embed best practices into our systems, organisational culture, professional standards and individual practice. We are comforted and guided by the music, the rhythm, the beat that shows us the way, our guiding principles. Creating congruent behaviours, attitudes and policies that work together within the systems, organisations, professions and individuals to deliver services in a culturally safe and responsive way. Nurturing a healthy society, organisation and individuals towards better overall outcomes for all.

We acknowledge and thank the artist Olivene (Olly) Yasso.