PwC outlines progress on Indigenous reconciliation action plan
Three years into its four-year phase, PwC and PwC’s Indigenous Consulting have again reviewed the progress being made under their joint Elevate RAP, with the majority of measures achieved.
Spanning the period 2019 to 2023, the professional services firm said that a number of key initiatives of its Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) have been achieved over the past three years, continuing a concerted reconciliation journey PwC first embarked on nearly a decade ago.
Of the 48 measurement targets aligned to 11 commitments outlined in its current RAP, PwC reports that 38 have been achieved or are on track, while those measures not on track have been largely hampered by the impacts of Covid-19 – including falling short on its employment targets.
As a response, the accounting and consulting firm says that it has since accelerated efforts to increase the hiring of more First Nations peoples within PwC and its Indigenous Consulting division.
Among the initiatives to bolster recruitment pathways, PwC’s Indigenous Consulting last year teamed up with cloud recruitment and training specialist Revolent to launch the Indigenous Tech Academy, a free-of-charge Salesforce training program designed exclusively for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
PwC has also hired two new First Nations team members to lead the firms’ First Nations employment and retention strategy.
“Reconciliation is core to Australia’s national identity and offers enormous potential for the future of our country,” commented PwC CEO Tom Seymour. “We’re committed to supporting real and lasting change in the lives of First Nations people and we will continue to focus on employment opportunities for First Nations people. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, but we recognise there is much more to do.”
Among other successful initiatives highlighted in the 2021 report was the launch of an additional cultural awareness training module, which more than three quarters of its staff have completed, and the firm’s ongoing collaboration with the MURRA Indigenous Business Program at Melbourne Business School on the MURRA Boost Initiative – last year claimed by indigenous-owned vehicle hire company Cedrent Enterprises.
Meanwhile, PwC notes the increased ambition of its 2013 action to support self-determination through empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led models and solutions led to the establishment of PwC’s Indigenous Consulting itself, which is a separate Indigenous majority owned, managed and staffed entity. PwC’s Indigenous Consulting has over the past year grown its partnership headcount from two to five, and now has a headcount of almost 60.
PwC’s Indigenous Consulting CEO Gavin Brown, a Wiradjuri man, concluded, “While we are proud of what we have been able to accomplish over our eight-plus years – 1,200+ projects across more than 700 communities – we continue to challenge ourselves to consider how we can make a greater impact. As we mature with our RAP journey, we know that these standards are ever-increasing and we want to do our utmost to continue to push ourselves.”
