The City of Casey is one of the fastest-growing Local Government Areas (LGA) in Australia, with a population of approximately 400,000 people. While implementing their Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), the City of Casey saw the need to engage with their people (employees) and did so in an innovative and creative way.

Working with Aboriginal community partners and a range of teams across the whole organisation, a small team of change collaborators created the YOur Special Place installation and engagement program within their workplace.

Described by participants as a powerful emotional and immersive experience, YOur Special Place provided an opportunity for people to pause, reflect, learn and consider how they might incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander considerations into their working roles.

Featuring a 650m floor timeline representing 65,000 years of Aboriginal history, a museum-standard immersion room installation, 100 culturally significant plants found in Bunurong/Boonwurrung Country, storytelling soundscapes, podcast and short films from Elders, plus extraordinary artistic expressions, YOur Special Place has now become a permanent feature of the City of Casey’s Bunjil Place office.

Opening in Reconciliation Week and initially planned to run for three months, it now permanently demonstrates the organisation’s steadfast and ongoing commitment to reconciliation and encourages people to make a personal change that’s right for them.

Employees from across the business participated in cultural learning engagement sessions, which stimulated their senses, supported them in an open dialogue about Aboriginal affairs and allowed them to ask questions in a safe and welcoming environment.

The leading Indigenous not-for-profit cultural organisation, the Koorie Heratage Trust, have called YOur Special Place “a deeply moving and thoughtful space, which reflects a genuine and growing commitment to change”, while CEO Glenn Patterson says “YOur Special Place has been well received and it’s really impressive.”

Following a shared leadership philosophy and leading practice change management techniques, the organisation’s Strategic Change Advisor led a diverse team of collaborators, including Aboriginal Engagement, Gallery, Horticulture, Technology, Buildings, and Communications experts, delivering an experience and outcomes far in excess of their initial objectives.

The resulting engagement and conversations were inspiring, the connections built were extensive, and the commitments made were heartfelt, all culminating in greater opportunities to drive meaningful change and nurture unity.

Together, the team demonstrated that the impact values-based change management can make is significant, and they created ripples that extend throughout the organisation and beyond, into the community.

This change success was summed up by Courtney Harrison, Head of Diversity, Equity and Wellbeing, when she commented, “It really has been an incredible journey to witness. The impacts continue to be profound.”

For more information about the City of Casey, visit casey.vic.gov.au/.