Raising awareness, understanding, and inclusion of Indigenous peoples is a crucial step toward building a diverse, equitable and innovative workforce.

Inspired by Closing the Gap, a national agreement to achieve socioeconomic equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, 20 CGI Partners volunteered to create a First Nations Program in 2022. 

Advancing awareness and training 

In early 2023, we introduced our new First Nations Program with the launch of CGI’s Acknowledgement of Country to communicate the importance of respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and their past and continuing connection to Country. Mandatory First Nations cultural awareness training for all Australia-based CGI Partners soon followed.

Championed by CGI’s executive leadership, our First Nations Program pursues five objectives:

  1. Grow knowledge, awareness and respect toward First Nations people.
  2. Drive meaningful and tangible outcomes that have a positive impact on First Nations people.
  3. Align with our Responsible Business Model and be valued by our three stakeholders: clients, CGI Partners, and shareholders.
  4. Invest in professional development opportunities of First Nations young people.
  5. Respectfully engage with and support First Nations organizations.

Building an actionable plan 

We then formalized our intent in our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which articulates CGI’s commitments and actions toward these objectives. CGI’s Reflect RAP was endorsed by Reconciliation Australia in 2023 and will extend from January 2024 to June 2025. 

To drive forward the 39 deliverables identified, the working group is organized into five pillars: Governance, Cultural Awareness, Partnerships & Procurement, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Development.

Under the Reconciliation Australia framework, this inaugural RAP lays the foundation for the Innovate, Stretch and Elevate RAPs to follow. Each strengthens reconciliation in various ways.

Driving meaningful outcomes

In addition to continuing our mandatory cultural awareness training for all new CGI Partners, our 2024 outcomes included:

  • Participation in key events such as NAIDOC Week and Reconciliation Week
  • Increased engagement and spending with First Nations suppliers
  • Identification of CGI Partner volunteering opportunities
  • Delivery of a STEM Camp for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with the support of the GO Foundation 

We conducted before and after surveys of CGI Partners to capture the increased learning through the RAP initiatives. There was a self-reported increase in knowledge and awareness of 48% over a six-month period.

We are now preparing to progress to the Innovate RAP, a two-year program set to start in July 2025.