Our Reconciliation Action Plan
QPP’s ‘Reflect’ Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia, in March 2023. As part of the development of our ‘Reflect’ plan, QPP established an ongoing Reconciliation Working Group with membership from all teams.
QPP will consult on how to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations in a meaningful way, through the QPP Reconciliation Working Group. The commitment to the QPP RAP has been announced to all staff and our members and general public.
QPP has committed to the process of implementing a RAP as part of the organisation’s strategic vision and as an acknowledgement that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Australia’s colonial history is characterised by devastating land dispossession, violence, and societal and systemic racism. With this understanding, QPP is committed to working towards becoming a reconciled, just and equitable Australia and eliminating the gaps between Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples and non-Indigenous peoples.
This is particularly relevant for the services QPP delivers for PLHIV, their health and wellbeing i.e., testing, treatment, prevention and support.
The RAP is not standalone project and QPP understands that substantial structural, professional and personal changes are required to embrace real change for reconciliation. In view of this acknowledgement, throughout the stages of the RAP, QPP is committing to review the potential barriers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in accessing our services and employment. This will require a critique of all relevant policy, systems and processes.
Additionally, there is a strategic aim to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff more broadly in the organisation but in particular, PLHIV peer employees to work directly with community in addressing BBV and STI testing and prevention. Further, these peers will support clients in their initial and ongoing navigation of the health system, and in treatment adherence for those diagnosed with HIV.
Our Reconciliation Action Plan Artwork
‘Working Together’ by Nigooli
This painting represents working towards positive pathways to better understand the gaps which exist within First Nations communities. The central figure represents the importance of creating an identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander position within our organisation. This will give First Nations people more sense of self-determination and empowerment, which will lead to lowered feelings of stigma and discrimination associated with HIV, BBVs and STIs.
The HIV virus is centralised and is the focal point. Without knowledge around the issues of HIV, people become scared of the unknown and therefore don’t access the services and support needed. Peer workers are incorporated on the right of the main image. They play an important part of education and the delivery of services to the wider communities. They walk beside others and can break barriers down, improving the accessibility of our services.
Pathways are represented in the painting signalling a devotion to culturally appropriate and safe health care. The QPP working group is represented on the left. These people are important in leading the organisation’s Reconciliation Action Plan. This painting comes together as a whole around working cooperatively to reconcile two nations.
QPP acknowledges and respects Nigooli as the custodian of the cultural knowledge represented within this thoughtful artwork.
About the Artist – Nicky Newley-Guivarra (Nigooli)
Nicky born 1967 is a Wuthathi woman and gifted painter. Her family heritage on her grandmother’s side is from Shelburn Bay Cape York Peninsula and from her grandfather’s side from Darnley Island in the Torres Strait Islands. She lives with her family in Brisbane.
Nicky possesses a natural strength in her desire to paint and the themes within her work reflect culture, spirituality and life experiences. NigooliDesigns is a unique and dynamic fusion of traditional and contemporary themes, often encompassing the spirit of saltwater and deep ocean themes and reflections upon culture and life as taught to her by her grandfather.
Nigooli works with primarily contemporary acrylic or ink on canvas or lino prints. Her vibrant and spectacular use of colour makes each Nigooli piece a unique quality work that would look spectacular in any home.
Nigooli is a truly talented artist and her work was judged and selected for Gatherings, a book of selected First Nations artists where it was stated, ‘Nicky’s work is attracting increasing attention and is held in a number of private collections around the country’. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Deakin University, has exhibited across Queensland and was the winner of the Robert O’Chin Amateur Art Award.
She has been commissioned by several government departments to develop art for state programs and her art was used state-wide as the NAIDOC image in 2001.
She has been commissioned for the children’s book Sea Shells and murals for Education Queensland and commercial businesses. Nicky now works as a painter and works with First Nations people around topics which are difficult to talk about. She is an ambassador for ‘Yarns Heal’, and has facilitated workshops in over 100 First Nations communities in Queensland including the Torres Strait Islands, talking about suicide prevention and using art as a medium for healing. NigooliDesigns artworks are a fantastic investment for the discerning collector.
