General manager Adrian Butler said presentation of the draft plan to council for public exhibition had been paused due to limited resources and competing priorities, including the Ageing Well Strategy, the Disability Inclusion and Access Plan and the Child, Youth and Family Strategy.
Public expressions of interest will be called to guide the plan’s development with members consisting of councillors, council staff, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community advisors, and stakeholders.
The Reconciliation Action Plan is a nationally recognised framework designed to advance reconciliation, strengthen relationships with First Nations people, and turn strategic intent into practical, measurable outcomes.
The working group was originally established in 2022 and collaborated with Reconciliation Australia to ensure the draft plan met mandatory requirements.
Council’s Manager of Community and Economic Development, Narelle Donovan, said the previous working group had done a significant amount of work in creating the plan, which had not been endorsed by the council.
Mr Butler said it was important the final plan was acceptable to the Aboriginal community and realistic for the size of Federation Council when considered in the context of significant other social and community plans, and service delivery commitments.
“Following recent decisions by Council concerning the flying/display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and Welcome to Country protocols, and after consulting with Reconciliation Australia and Aboriginal community stakeholders, Council has reactivated the Reconciliation Action Plan committee," he said.
"The committee will assist Council to determine whether the draft (plan) should proceed as is or be re-scoped to an earlier stage of the journey under the Reconciliation Australia framework.”
To reflect the time elapsed since the committee last met, Council is issuing a call for nominations for new committee members with former members invited to reapply alongside new candidates.
At last weeks ordinary meeting of council, Ms Donovan said that one of the actions from the November meeting was to look at reinstating the working group.
“Given what's occurred within council over the last six to eight months regarding the flag protocols, re-establishing the working group is the next step to enable us to reinstate those protocols,” she said.
The motion was carried unanimously.
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