First Peoples
We respect the First Peoples, who are the Bama – the Aboriginal rainforest people – who are traditional custodians/owners of the lands that cover our region. We also acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who call our region home.
Our Council was one of the first local governments in Queensland to develop a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). This RAP forms the base of our commitment to help strengthen and build relationships and understanding between First Peoples and non-Indigenous people within our organisation and throughout our region.
Australia's First People have rich and long histories. Within the Cairns region, there are many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with different and distinct languages, histories and cultures.
Read about the culture and history of the First Peoples of the Cairns area
NAIDOC Week 2023
Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families.
They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones.
Our loved ones who pick us up in our low moments and celebrate us in our high ones. Who cook us a feed to comfort us and pull us into line, when we need them too.
They guide our generations and pave the way for us to take the paths we can take today. Guidance, not only through generations of advocacy and activism, but in everyday life and how to place ourselves in the world.
We draw strength from their knowledge and experience, in everything from land management, cultural knowledge to justice and human rights. Across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between, they have set the many courses we follow.
The struggles of our Elders help to move us forward today. The equality we continue to fight for is found in their fight. Their tenacity and strength has carried the survival of our people.
It is their influence and through their learnings that we must ensure that when it comes to future decision making for our people, there is nothing about us - without us.
We pay our respects to the Elders we’ve lost and to those who continue fighting for us across all our Nations and we pay homage to them.
In 2023, how will you celebrate For Our Elders?
Council supporting reconciliation
The Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program was launched by Reconciliation Australia in July 2006 as a forward-looking aspect of the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, the most successful in Australia's history, in which more than 90% of voters said "yes" to equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fellow citizens.
On Monday 30 May 2011, Cairns Regional Council formally signed the 'Statement of Commitment' to have our first RAP complete and ready for endorsement by Council in December 2011. Council is proud to have been the first local government in Queensland to have had a RAP endorsed by Reconciliation Australia. Council's current 'Innovate RAP' covers the period from October 2019 - September 2021.
Council has had a long-term commitment to reconciliation and has chosen to use the Reconciliation Australia RAP program to focus and formalise our commitment into a RAP template. Council also seeks to create and provide opportunities that support and improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
We see the benefit of demonstrating leadership in reconciliation in our region and the opportunities that come from being part of a growing RAP community.
Email Council's Community Services team or phone 4044 3368 to find out more about Council's Reconciliation Action Plan, First People's Advisory Committee and other opportunities for First Peoples to work with or for Council.
Significant numbers of corporate, government and non-government organisations have RAPs in nearly every town and city. As more and more councils and various organisations and businesses develop RAPs, the potential to collaborate with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, organisations and service providers will be realised. All it takes is local leadership!
The RAP program turns "good intentions into action" by encouraging and supporting organisations, large and small, to engage within their sphere of influence in the national effort to close the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their fellow Australians.
- A RAP is a tool to help Council strengthen and build positive relationships between Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people within and outside the organisation.
- A RAP provides Council with a framework/format for exploring how reconciliation can advance our business / organisational objectives – Corporate Plan, Community Plan.
- Council's RAP is our public contribution towards the national effort by all levels of government and the private sector to close the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children – through initiatives such as Council's Indigenous Employment Strategy.
- A RAP formalises Council's contribution by encouraging us to identify clear actions and realistic targets, as well as lessons learnt.
The RAP was originally developed in consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the local government area, including members of Council's First Peoples Advisory Committee, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and external representatives. Council Management and staff also provided input and commitment to the projects and initiatives detailed in our RAP.
Reconciliation Australia provided comment, review and endorsement of Cairns Regional Council's Innovate RAP 2019-2021.
All RAPs include a commitment to publicly report and refresh annually. Council will report each year to Reconciliation Australia on the progress of the RAP. A RAP Working Group monitors progress and assists in the implementation of projects and initiatives, and annual RAP reports will be published and made available to the wider community.
Tracking and reporting progress ensures Council and the community recognise where achievements have been made, where challenges remain and what opportunities exist for future RAP development and implementation. Council looks forward to sharing learning across the Australian community and to understanding the collective impact of RAPs on the life expectancy gap.
First Peoples Advisory Committee
The First Peoples Advisory Committee (FPAC) is one of the important ways that Council engages and consults with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
FPAC provides comment, feedback and direction on issues that relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communities. It also works to enhance opportunities for participation and collaboration between local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Council.
Council understands the importance of actively promoting equity and equality while working together to build historical acceptance, cultural competency and strong relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the wider Cairns community so that everyone has the opportunity to participate in and enjoy life, the facilities and the opportunities that our region has to offer with dignity and respect.
Join FPAC
FPAC is an exciting opportunity to make a difference to the Cairns Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community within the Cairns region. Council formed the current FPAC in October 2020 and appointed a Chair and Cultural Adviser to Council.
FPAC members are appointed every three years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live, work or study in the Cairns Regional Council area are welcome to apply to join the First Peoples Advisory Committee at this time.
Meetings
FPAC is required to hold six meetings each year with regular attendance by a minimum of six committee members. Should you wish to have an item considered for discussion at any of the FPAC meetings send a message with your details to the Community Services team for consideration.
The First People's Advisory Committee meets several times a year to provide comment, feedback and direction on issues relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communities to Council. FPAC provides an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the Cairns local government area to be part of a key group contributing to make a difference.
FPAC reports to full Council every 6 months.
Last Updated: 28 March 2023
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