BMD kept the fire burning with Australia-wide NAIDOC Week celebrations

From enjoying traditional foods and crafts to colouring in competitions for families, storytelling and sport, the BMD team took part in cultural learning, celebrations and conversations.

To kick off the week, senior leaders attended a corporate night in support of the Brisbane Lightning’s inaugural NAIDOC game against division leader Canberra Brave. The Lightning team wore bespoke jerseys, featuring the artwork “Ice Hockey on Country” by Sandra Angus, which were auctioned off with a portion of the proceeds going to the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation.

At our head office in Brisbane, QLD, we spun a yarn with Bundjalung woman Jenni Walke, where Jenni demonstrated traditional weaving techniques used by Indigenous cultures to make items such as mats and baskets.

Jenni shared how weaving is the perfect metaphor for reconciliation, with each strand of raffia differing in colour, length, thickness and texture, but through weaving, each piece comes together to make something strong and meaningful.

At BMD’s Molonglo Bridge project in the ACT, Ngunnawal Elder Wally Bell brought cultural artefacts to the site, with the team hearing about his totem, the platypus.

Many sites across the country hosted NAIDOC Week barbecues, cooking up and enjoying traditional foods including kangaroo and emu.

It was a privilege to have many First Nations people attend our NAIDOC Week events sharing with us their stories, culture, and heritage, in addition to BMD’s valued First Nations employees.

The theme of this year’s NAIDOC Week was Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud, celebrating the unyielding spirit of First Nations communities and invited all to stand in solidarity.

BMD is committed to creating better social outcomes for Australia’s First Nations people and we are proudly moving towards our Stretch-level Reconciliation Action Plan, officially launching next month.

View the image gallery below to see some of BMD’s NAIDOC Week events.