Message from the Managing Director
Busways is taking an important step in supporting the national effort of reconciliation between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians with the introduction of our first Reconciliation Action Plan.
We are doing this because we recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and custodians of the lands and waters in Australia.
We recognise that without action taken by government and businesses in Australia, outcomes for Indigenous Australians will not improve.
Our Reflect RAP is centred around four key objectives of our reconciliation journey:
- Increase representation and employment opportunities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within Busways
- Invest in developing the capability and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees
- Improve the awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in the workplace
- Support sustainable growth of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander-owned businesses through procurement of goods and services
We will achieve this through acknowledging, learning and building respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge and histories. Through the RAP framework and the establishment of Busways’ Reconciliation Action Working Group we will work together to achieve our objectives and contribute to better outcomes for Indigenous Australians, who are our colleagues, clients, customers, commercial and community partners and stakeholders.
Busways Managing Director,
Byron Rowe
Muru Dharug Gnurra
To commemorate the introduction of our first RAP we commissioned contemporary Aboriginal artist, Melissa Barton, a proud Boorooberongal clan woman, to create this artwork called ‘Muru Dharug Gnurra’ or ‘Journeys over Dharug Country’
This artwork has special significance for us. It depicts Busways’ beginnings starting in the heart of Dharug Country – where our founder operated his first bus services around Plumpton and Blacktown in 1942.
In the centre of the artwork is a large circle surrounded by “U” shapes. This is Busways as a company and our team. The central and most pivotal part of Busways. Without our dedicated team, the journeys wouldn’t happen. The lines reaching out from the sides of the circle are all the different journeys that the buses take. These journey lines travel through many different communities and in doing so, unite them together.
Communities are represented by the different sized circles along the journey lines. Different people from all walks of life, using the same services to move around Dhurug Country and beyond. Two blue borders at the top and bottom of the artwork represent Dharug Country itself.
For our first RAP it feels fitting for us to honour Dharug Country where Busways began. We have grown to now provide bus services to communities across NSW and SA.
We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and pay our respects to Elders past and present, for they hold the continuing stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Events of Significance
- Cooee Festival, 25 May
The Cooee festival is a community based annual event that gives Aboriginal people the opportunity to share, learn and represent culture through traditional corroborees, practices, and ceremony.
- National Reconciliation Week, 27 May to 3 June
From 27 May to 3 June, these dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey. The successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
- 5 Lands Walk
The 5 Lands Walk is a physical, spiritual, and cultural journey connecting people to people and people to place; a place where no one is excluded. In doing so we take a step toward creating a more harmonious and inclusive society on the Central Coast and beyond.
- NAIDOC WEEK
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.