Mike Levy represented Lee Green at the 2019 Reconciliation Conference held in Perth.  This was the second annual conference held by Reconciliation Australia following a successful inaugural conference held at the Richmond Football Club in Melbourne in December 2018.

The conference was a great opportunity to learn and share experiences with other organisations with Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs) and was great timing with Lee Green in the process of producing our second RAP after recently obtaining conditional endorsement for our Innovate RAP from Reconciliation Australia.  You can read more about that process here. Together with meeting people from other RAP organisations it was great to have the opportunity to discuss reconciliation with the representative bodies throughout Australia, in particular Reconciliation Australia, Reconciliation SA, WA and Tasmania. 

The conference also provided the opportunity to catch up with our client Bec Wessels from Ochre Dawn who is doing a fantastic job working with us to produce our Innovate RAP.

Highlights of the conference included the opening welcome with traditional dance performed by the Wesley Boys and a breathtaking performance by Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse – for anyone interested in finding out more about these talented artists they will be performing at the Port Fairy Folk Festival and the web-site is http://www.ginawilliams.com.au

There was also the opportunity to experience a cultural tour of Yagan Square in Perth and if you ever get the opportunity when you’re in Perth I can fully recommend Go Cultural Aboriginal Experiences and Tours https://goculturalaboriginaltours.rezdy.com

The conference provided an opportunity to listen to a wide array of speakers with varied experiences and perspectives. As always there was great insight from The Hon Fred Chaney AO as well as Glen Kelly and Nerelda Jacobs from Channel 10 in Perth who delivered a candid and thought provoking presentation.

The main takeaways from the conference include:

• There are many great people and organisations throughout Australia contributing to and achieving positive results through the reconciliation process – these people and organisations come from different backgrounds, experiences and locations but are walking and working together for the same goals
• Mutually beneficial relationships take time and are achieved through respectful communication and trust
• Indigenous Accountants Australia provides ongoing support for Indigenous graduates undertaking CPA or Chartered education
• The reconciliation process has come a long way in 20 years but still has a way to go