Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders at WSP Australia

WSP acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work: our offices and sites where our projects are planned, designed, and constructed. We honour their ongoing spiritual relationship with their Country and continuing connection to culture, community, land, sea, and sky. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging leaders as well as all our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members.

We recognise the unique role they play in the country’s heritage and our future. In Australia, WSP is actively working on ways to increase the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in employment and education. 

We are proud to be the only engineering firm in Australia to have achieved STRETCH RAP status with Reconciliation Australia – the third highest level. Read our 2021-2024 RAP here.

One People, One Destiny

We exist to create equitable, inclusive, and sustainable societies for today and future generations. In Australia, we acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of this land and the places on which we live and work. We recognise the unique role they play in the country’s heritage and our future.  We believe that reconciliation is a means to bring about mutual understanding and learning that will ultimately serve to create a sustainable, vibrant, and connected future for all Australians.

WSP is at the forefront of industry change when it comes to Indigenous co-design – that focuses on creating a built environment that reflects Australia’s First Peoples. The Indigenous Specialist Services group focuses is one that values Indigenous knowledge and provides design input into our major projects. Incorporating Indigenous knowledge and culture in the designs of important infrastructure and built environment projects helps create strong and culturally respectful relationships with Indigenous communities. It also assists in highlighting the historical and ongoing connection to the Country of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Incorporating Indigenous knowledge and culture in the design of infrastructure and built environment projects helps create strong and culturally respectful relationships with Indigenous communities. This in turn generates meaningful opportunities for Indigenous people, businesses, and communities across project lifecycles. This business area of WSP specifically focuses on:

• Indigenous Design & Knowledge
• Research & Cultural Protocols
• Legal & Moral Guidelines
• Indigenous Representation & Involvement
• Culturally Specific Protocols and Project Engagement
• Reconciliation Action Plans
• Project Design for Positive Social Impacts
• Collaboration and Co-Creation of Opportunities
• Employment and Training Opportunities
• Legacy Opportunities for the Community

In Australia, WSP is actively working on ways to increase the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in employment and education.

• For more than 20 years, WSP has been a proud partner of Engineering Aid Australia’s Indigenous Australian Engineering School (IAES), helping to inspire Indigenous Australian secondary school students to consider engineering and STEM career pathways.
• WSP established, in partnership with Queensland University of Technology Oodgeroo Unit (QUT) the Science and Infrastructure Development School (SID School), this is reconciliation in action and focuses on closing the gap in education outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

Some key areas:

• 2019 WSP joined our client's industry colleagues and fellow Australians in recognising the importance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart to Australia's First Nation People.
• WSP's implemented Sorry Business Guidelines to assist all employees to understand WSP’s approach to supporting Sorry Business and significant cultural practices and provide guidance to managers and employees with respect to Sorry Business.

Significant dates we recognise as a business are: