Turning commitment into action

From building resumes and preparing meals to celebrating culture and connecting with community, Fletcher Building Australia's Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) commitments came to life throughout NAIDOC Week in early July, demonstrating how reconciliation is strengthened through action. 

NAIDOC Week provided a powerful opportunity for Fletcher Building Australia to bring its Innovate RAP to life, with employees across the business volunteering their time, sharing their skills and building stronger connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, all while celebrating the 50th anniversary of NAIDOC Week. 

"What makes me most proud is seeing people from across the business come together with a genuine desire to learn, contribute and make a difference,” says Fletcher Building's RAP Working Group Lead Malia Johansson. 

“The collaboration across our RAP Working Group and wider teams has been incredible, and every initiative helps strengthen our collective commitment to reconciliation through action." 

Ready Set Resume 

Supporting young people as they prepare for life beyond school is an important part of Fletcher Building Australia's partnership with Hymba Yumba Independent School in Queensland. 

Hymba Yumba is a Prep to Year 12 First Nations school in Springfield that combines Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures with a Western education framework, creating an environment where students can thrive academically while remaining connected to culture and community. 

Earlier this month, Iplex Australia's Heidi Payne joined Laminex Australia's Jodie Upton and Sally McDondald to deliver a hands-on resume readiness workshop for Year 11 and 12 students. The session was designed to equip students with practical employment skills while building the confidence to take their next steps into further education or the workforce. 

Working alongside the students, the team helped create or update resumes, identify transferable skills developed through school, sport, volunteering and community involvement, and shared practical advice on presenting themselves confidently to future employers. By the end of the session, every student walked away with both a printed and digital resume ready to use when applying for jobs. 

Jodie said seeing that change in confidence was one of the most rewarding parts of the day. 

"One of the most rewarding parts was helping students realise that experience isn't just paid work. By asking questions and talking through their school, sporting, volunteering and life experiences, they started to recognise the skills they already had,” said Laminex’s Jodie Upton. 

“You could really see the difference as their confidence grew and they left with stronger resumes and a better understanding of what they could offer employers." 

Heidi said the workshop was about much more than resumes. 

"It was such a powerful morning working with the students to create new or update existing resumes. It's amazing how many young people believe that if they don't have paid work experience they can't add value. As we supported the students, we encouraged them to think big and recognise their transferable skills as they start to look at life outside of school." 

Sally McDonald also said it was a rewarding day, saying, “hearing their aspirations, recognising their strengths, and discussing the opportunities ahead as they transition from school to the workforce was the highlight of the day.”

Cooking up connection through Meals for the Mob 

In Melbourne, 18 employees from Fletcher Insulation, Stramit, Iplex and Laminex swapped their desks for aprons to volunteer with FareShare's Meals for the Mob programme, supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through one of Australia's largest food rescue organisations. 

Established in 2022, Meals for the Mob provides free, healthy and culturally appropriate meals to First Nations families, community groups and services experiencing food insecurity. Since its launch, the programme has delivered more than 200,000 meals, transforming donated food and fresh produce into nutritious meals that make a real difference in communities across Australia. 

Working from FareShare's state-of-the-art Abbotsford kitchen alongside FareShare and SecondBite volunteers, the Fletcher Building team spent three-and-a-half hours preparing meals that would soon be delivered to communities in need. Tasks included decanting cooked chicken, preparing trays for cooking, assembling vegetarian rice and vegetable meals, chopping fresh vegetables and helping reset the commercial kitchen ready for the next volunteer shift. 

Collectively, their efforts contributed to 2,177 meals, including 579 single-serve vegetable stew and rice meals, chicken for a further 798 meals, cauliflower for another 200 meals and ingredients for an additional 600 meals. 

Sandra Shaw from Fletcher Insulation said the experience gave the team a greater appreciation of the scale and impact of the programme. 

"Overall we all enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other a bit better and do something we don't usually do that was a little bit out of our comfort zone." 

Celebrating culture at Musgrave Park 

The RAP Working Group also came together for the first time to host a Fletcher Building stand at Brisbane's Musgrave Park NAIDOC Week Family Fun Day. 

The event provided an opportunity to share Fletcher Building's reconciliation journey, have meaningful conversations with community members and showcase the business' commitment to diversity, inclusion and reconciliation. It also brought the RAP Working Group together in person, strengthening connections while engaging directly with the communities they support. 

The team proudly wore their new RAP polo shirts featuring artwork that tells Fletcher Building Australia's reconciliation story, with the shirts sourced through First Nations supplier Geared Up Culcha. 

"Musgrave Park was a fantastic opportunity to connect with the community and demonstrate Fletcher Building's commitment to reconciliation. We had lots of genuine conversations throughout the day, and coming together as a RAP Working Group to host a stand at the Musgrave Park Family Fun Day for the first time, during the milestone 50th anniversary of NAIDOC Week, was something we were all proud to be part of,” says Laminex Australia’s Jodie Upton. 

Betty Luong from Stramit said the event demonstrated the power of coming together. 

"It was great to see so many people from different cultures, children and organisations participating in the Musgrave Park NAIDOC event to celebrate the rich Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. It was a real pleasure working alongside the Fletcher Building RAP Working Group and representing Fletcher Building at these events. It demonstrates our commitment to reconciliation." 

While these initiatives represent just a snapshot of Fletcher Building Australia's reconciliation efforts, they show how meaningful action can take many forms, from sharing knowledge and building confidence to volunteering, celebrating culture and strengthening relationships. Together, they demonstrate how the commitments of the Innovate RAP are creating positive outcomes for communities while deepening understanding and connection across our business.