QC Endorses Reconciliation

With this year’s theme being Bridging Now To Next, Queensland Cricket will reflect on a productive 12-month period that will see the successful delivery of its first ever Innovate RAP, even as attention turns to the next stage of QC’s Reconciliation journey.

Queensland Cricket CEO Terry Svenson, who serves as Co-Chair alongside Jason Smith of the Queensland First Nations Cricket Advisory Committee (pictured above with Jake Coolwell), said Reconciliation Week would provide an appropriate time to reflect and plan.

“There has been solid progress with achieving our RAP goals, but we know there is more to be done,’’ he said.

“As well as providing our staff and players with an opportunity to reflect on the messages from Reconciliation Week, it is also timely for us to continue to prepare for our next steps.

“The inaugural QC RAP was an important starting point and at the end of that period, we can now look to what comes next with the confidence that we can make a difference with our plans and actions.”

Svenson said a highlight from the RAP period that would be celebrated this week was the performances of the male and female Queensland teams at the National Indigenous Championships that was held in Mackay on Yuwibara Country for the first time.

“We will have players from both teams attend our regular Staff All-In this week to tell us about their experiences at the titles, which included outstanding cricket and cultural opportunities,” he said.

Queensland won the men’s title for the first time since 2013, while the Queensland women were runners-up.

Reconciliation Week starts today and runs through until next Tuesday.

Initiatives that have been created or enhanced during the Reconciliation Plan that was launched in June 2023 include:

• The repurposing of the Eddie Gilbert Program to focus on entry level growth of cricket within First Nations communities
• Delivering First Nations Woolworths Cricket Blast clinics
• Hosting First Nations Rounds within the KFC BBL and Weber WBBL that showcased Aboriginal and Torres Strait musicians and artists and provided fund-raising opportunities to assist the Queensland Cricket Foundation
• The QCF funding initiatives designed to enhance Indigenous health and well-being, including support for community cricket events such as Team Indigenous Corporation’s Stan Alberts Shield in Rockhampton and the Southwest Indigenous Network’s Western Rivers Cup in Toowoomba,
• Premier Cricket First Nations rounds played annually
• Permanently naming the northern end of Allan Border Field as the ‘Eddie Gilbert End’ and welcoming family members to a launch event.
• Creation of a Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cricket scholarship scheme
• Integration of First Nations artwork into State representative playing apparel
• Cultural awareness learning opportunities for QC staff including attendance at NRW and NAIDOC Week celebrations and events.