Working in Partnership with Indigenous People

Paterson G¹*

1. Westpac Banking Corporation, Sydney, NSW, Australia

From an initial decision to support the vision of Noel Pearson for the people of Cape York, Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) has now entered the fourth year of its’ partnership with Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships (IEP).

Our initial commitment of providing 50 employees per year on one-month secondments to Cape York has grown significantly to where already over 200 employees have been involved for periods from 2 weeks to 18 months.

In supporting projects lead by Cape York Partnerships (CYP) and Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation (Balkanu), Westpac employees have supported the Family Income Management, Business facilitation and Computer Culture initiatives.
The partnership with IEP has enabled Westpac to engage through an organisation that has a deep understanding of the issues and a strong network among all the stakeholders. Westpac is able to work in partnership with Indigenous people on projects that they support and are seeking our assistance with.

The relationship with IEP has been pivotal in ensuring Westpac’s ongoing role in Cape York is productive and ensured the expectations of what we have committed to can be effectively delivered.