The Long Walk proud to support Essendon Football Club's Reconciliation Action Plan

Kim Kruger

1 September 2009

Essendon Football Club's Reconciliation Action Plan outlines themes of Respect, Relationships and Opportunities in its actions to address the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Essendon Football Club launched its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) on Friday 28 August and The Long Walk is proud to be involved in its development. Essendon's RAP identifies actions under the three themes of Respect, Relationships and Opportunities where it can make a difference in closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The RAP was launched by Australian of the Year, Mick Dodson and Michael Long spoke about his days at the footy club and what a difference it has made to his life as well as the partnership between The Long Walk and Essendon.  This partnership is of mutual benefit where both the club and The Long Walk add value and strengthen each others supported Indigenous programs.  An example of this is building the Indigenous Cultural Exchange between Wadeye and Victorian communities to add value to Essendon's fostership program with the Wadeye community.

This fits well with the Relationships and Opportunties action areas of the RAP. Broadly, Relationships looks at strengthening existing partnerships with Wadeye, Tiwi, Rumbalara and The Long Walk; Respect looks at observing protocols, respecting Traditional Owners and cultural competency for all staff; Opportunities identifies ways in which the footy club can utilise its core business of football to make a difference.  Some examples here are work experience and training opportunities, fitness centre memberships for Indigenous people and off-field development for Indigenous players.

The Long Walk looks forward to contributing to the RAP Implementation Group and making a genuine difference at the club.

More info at http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/news.asp?nid=6987

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