Brookfield Properties has demonstrated a broad-reaching and innovative approach to engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across its national assets in Australia, delivering tangible and meaningful results.
Brookfield Properties’ 2022 RAP outlines several objectives for building cultural understanding and delivering social and economic support to First Nations enterprises and communities. Amongst these objectives is Brookfield Properties’ goal to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in our supply chain , in order to support improved economic and social outcomes.
Brookfield Properties’ execution of its Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan, and the ways in which we have engaged with the First Nations community since 2019, have all had far-reaching outcomes. These are tangible not only for First Nations stakeholders and enterprises, but for Brookfield Properties’ staff, tenants and visitors across its Australian assets.
This renewed approach has resulted in our Australian operation include Designing for Country as a key consideration in our developments. Our procurement model has been adapted to proactively include First Nations businesses, with significant advancements made to Brookfield Properties’ placemaking programs.
Brookfield Properties has delivered culturally-informed placemaking and events, alongside a range of working relationships with First Nations stakeholders and economic support for First Nations enterprises and organisations.
Integral to its RAP, Brookfield Properties’ work with the First Nations advisory group IPS has delivered cultural competency training to staff and developed opportunities for First Nations engagement through supplier diversity.
As a RAP deliverable and an example of its innovative placemaking capacity, Brookfield Properties’ six-week program for National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week, in both 2022 and 2023, delivered a rotating exhibition by First Nations artists across the Australian portfolio with a series of ‘Lunch and Learn’ cultural education seminars for tenants, painting and weaving workshops, and pop-up markets.
These programs have actively built cultural understanding between the wider public and the First Nations community, while celebrating First Nations stories, traditions, and ways of life.
Our approach to community engagement has delivered tangible economic opportunities for First Nations registered enterprises, delivered support to both established and emerging First Nations artists, and provided funds for First Nations-owned and not-for-profit community organisations. We look forward to continue our reconciliation journey.
