2024 HFC Reconciliation Action Plan-LowRes - Flipbook - Page 6
Our RAP
Hawthorn Football Club’s second Reconciliation
Action Plan is our formal declaration of the
club’s role in recognising and celebrating First
Nations people, promoting reconciliation and
fostering a deeper understanding of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander heritage, cultures
and histories.
In 2018, Hawthorn established an external
steering group and internal working party to
develop its first RAP. The 2019-21 Innovate RAP
provided a strong foundation for the club to
begin driving reconciliation through its business
activities. Pleasingly, many actions and activities
set out in our first RAP have been achieved
and are now part of our core business. Despite
this, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant
impact on our workforce and operations,
meaning a number of these action items are still
pending completion. For that reason, Hawthorn
has developed another Innovate RAP for 202426 to consolidate our efforts and position us
well to move to a Stretch RAP in 2027.
The RAP is championed by the club’s board and
executive team, led by CEO Ashley Klein, who
is supported by the RAP Working Group, which
includes an Indigenous representative (Jamie
Benell, Head of Indigenous Affairs) as well as a
representative from each area of the business.
Current AFL and AFLW First Nations players,
play an important advisory role in the ongoing
development and implementation of our RAP
actions. These players meet weekly with the
club’s Head of Indigenous Affairs, and quarterly
with the club’s CEO, Executive General
Manager – Football and Executive General
Manager – People, Culture and Community.
The focus of the quarterly meetings are to ensure
cultural safety and allow the consideration of
any further Indigenous initiatives as needed. The
weekly meetings are informal yarning sessions
where the players can freely raise any issues
with Jamie. First Nations employees have been
key contributors to the development of our
second RAP with the club being committed to
growing this representation in the coming two
years.
The club would like to formally acknowledge
the work of its RAP Working Group for taking
a lead role in reviewing and identifying
opportunities for growth in the future, as well as
all external individuals and organisations who
have assisted the club through its journey so far.
Finally, the club established a First Nations
Advisory Committee in 2024, comprising four
Indigenous experts (Aunty Joy Murphy AO,
Professor Barry Judd, Chad Wingard and Alan
Thorpe) as well as the club President and CEO.
The objectives of the Committee include
overseeing the implementation of the club’s
First Nations strategy and other initiatives
towards addressing a culturally safe workplace,
implementing cultural change, and providing
independent advice to the Board.
