Connecting with Community Time Trust A cup of tea - Engaging locally

Connecting with Community Connecting with Community Connecting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander[i] communities and building genuine relationships is a key pillar of every organisation’s reconciliation journey. [...] You must make clear what your intentions are when working with Aboriginal people and communities.[ii] Be open and willing to listen, learn, and acknowledge the value of cultural knowledge that may be shared with you throughout the process of building relationships.[iii] Engaging locally Use opportunities of informal networking to have a yarn and develop connection and trust. [...] Find out what community dates and events are celebrated in your local area and participate in them when possible.[iv] Be aware that some spaces are not open to non-Indigenous people and this needs to be respected. [...] ‘Sorry Business’ is a time for Mourning, and “because of the ongoing effects of colonisation, systems of oppression, access to services, and a lack of equity, First Nations peoples experience a higher number of deaths”[ix]. [...] Connecting with Community [i] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Aboriginal, and First Nations are all terms used interchangeably to refer to the First Peoples of the continent now known as Australia.