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Our RAP Journey

Flinders University’s Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan will further embed reconciliation into its institutional culture and operations.

The RAP reflects the University’s commitment to fostering respectful relationships, promoting cultural understanding, and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across education, research and community engagement.

The RAP underpins Flinders’ broader Indigenous strategies and national frameworks, such as the Indigenous Student Success Targets 2026 – 2028, Indigenous Workforce Strategy 2026 – 2030, Indigenous Research Strategy 2024 - 2026, and Country Centred Design Principles, which outlines the protocols for engagement with Traditional Owners or Custodians on Flinders University’s campus development and infrastructure projects.

The RAP drives strategies to increase Indigenous student success, strengthen community partnerships, particularly in rural and remote areas across South Australia and Northern Territory, and embed Indigenous knowledges into curriculum and research. Initiatives such as Elders on Campus, Indigenous Fellowships and curriculum decolonisation are central to this work.

Flinders’ RAP is structured around the five dimensions of reconciliation: race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity, unity and historical acceptance. It promotes truth-telling, self-determination, and reciprocity, ensuring that reconciliation is not symbolic but action oriented and measurable. Through this plan, Flinders seeks to create a culturally safe and inclusive environment where Indigenous voices are valued and empowered.

The advancement to a Stretch RAP marks a significant step forward in the University’s ongoing commitment to reconciliation. RAP Oversight Committee (RAPOC) Co-chairs, Professor Simone Tur and Professor Jonathan Craig, in partnership with the Office of Indigenous Strategy and Engagement, led University-wide consultations with staff and students across the Flinders community. In-person consultations were undertaken across the University footprint in Alice Springs, Bedford Park, Darwin, Katherine, Mount Gambier, Nhulunbuy and Renmark with online sessions undertaken.

Additionally, consultation was undertaken as part of the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s World Cafe, which initiated conversations about reconciliation with over 350 staff. 

A student pop-up stand was set up in the Student Hub at Bedford Park in partnership with the Sustainability Week, with approximately 100 students sharing their perceptions and personal commitment to reconciliation. Specific consultations were undertaken with the University Council and the Senior Executive Team of the University. Participants were asked to share their vision for reconciliation, and respond to the following questions: What does reconciliation mean to you? Where do we want to be in 3 years’ time? What are our key priorities that extend from the previous RAP?

The consultations aimed to foster meaningful connections with staff and students, and importantly, to strengthen connections with our Elders in these regions. This collaborative process ensures that the Stretch RAP reflects the diverse voices, experiences and aspirations of our university community. In total, approximately 450 staff and student participated in the consultations.

At Flinders University, the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is championed internally by senior leaders who hold strategic roles in Indigenous engagement and academic governance. These include Senior Executive positions responsible for Indigenous strategy, research, and College and Portfolio leadership. The RAP is guided by formal structures such as the RAP Oversight Committee and RAP Working Groups, ensuring that reconciliation is embedded across all areas of the university. This multi-level leadership ensures the RAP is not only a strategic document but a living framework that drives cultural change, accountability and meaningful engagement across the institution.

Externally, the RAP is supported through strong partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, particularly in South Australia and the Northern Territory. These relationships are central to co-designing initiatives and ensuring cultural integrity in the University’s reconciliation efforts.

Key Learnings

The university has made significant efforts to embed Indigenous advancement and engagement into university governance structures. Since the inaugural RAP in 2020 the standing items on the RAP, Indigenous advancement, student success and workforce are tabled at University Council, Academic Senate, Education Committee, Research Quality Committee, University Higher Degree Research Committee, Tarrkarri-ana Committee and other key committee and working groups.  This level of visibility has facilitated broader university engagement, accountability and university wide initiatives to progress, identify areas of focus and embed and advance best practice.  This approach has also aligned the efforts to the university higher education standards framework and higher education sector reform and initiatives.

The establishment of the Reconciliation Action Plan Oversight Committee (RAPOC) signalled university wide responsibility for the management, planning and implementation of the university’s ongoing commitment to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community participation, retention and success in higher education and commitment to celebrating Indigenous success, leadership and championing of reconciliation.

Recognising reconciliation champions is an integral part to enact change across the university. The establishment of RAP Awards in 2021 was to recognise the outstanding efforts of individual staff and teams in leading activities or projects that promote reconciliation has been an important initiative to recognise outstanding achievement and excellence in these endeavours. Since the awarding of the RAP Awards 12 individual and 17 teams has been recognised for their commitment to reconciliation.

The concept of “two-way learning” has become central to Flinders’ reconciliation ethos. Initiatives such as the “Gift of Words” from Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis O’Brien and the poetic narratives embedded in RAP documents have helped the University understand reconciliation as a lived, relational, and spiritual journey.

A significant learning has been the need to move beyond symbolic gestures to embed reconciliation into the University’s core operations. This includes governance, curriculum, research, student support, and workforce development. Indigenous strategies are now seamlessly integrated into daily operations, with measurable targets for student success, retention, and completion.

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