VIDA Partners with Kinaway!
Overview of the Partner’s business
The Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA) was established on 2 April 2024 to deliver the largest transport and health infrastructure program in Victorian history. This includes more than 200 projects such as the Metro Tunnel, North East Link, West Gate Tunnel, removing 110 level crossings, building new hospitals and upgrades to ambulance stations, specialist health services and early parenting centres.
How has the Partner engaged with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island businesssector? What actions have they taken to reconciliation? Any special programs, projects or collaborations? E.g. RAPs, employment, procurement
VIDA engages with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through the lens of the Transport Portfolio’s Aboriginal Self-Determination Plan. The plan provides a foundation for broader infrastructure, ensuring our infrastructure system is informed by the voices of Aboriginal Victorians.
Incorporating values and aspirations of Traditional Owners and other Indigenous organisations in the planning phase is a core priority for VIDA. Engaging Traditional Owners on place-based projects during the design phase has enabled projects to form strong relationships with Traditional Owners and creation of LXRP Indigenous Design Guidelines. The guide outlines and informs our construction partners on appropriate engagement practices from planning, design to delivery of Indigenous design on LXRP packages of work.
We set minimum requirements in our contracts for the percentage of project hours to be worked by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. All contracts include an Aboriginal employment target of 2.5 per cent of total hours worked. The Kinaway and Supply Nation databases have been extremely valuable to engage Aboriginal businesses to meet these targets and connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to employment opportunities.
Internally, NELP has engaged with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation to provide Cultural Awareness training to staff. This training has received positive feedback from attendees. Additionally, VIDA promotes First Peoples career strategy internally, to contractors and through employment program initiatives by applying the Yani Bangal First People’s Career Strategy and the First Peoples Cultural Safety Framework.
Why did the Partner sign up with Kinaway? What was the driving factor?
Kinaway has intimate knowledge of the local business landscape, community links, construction industry knowledge and their ever-evolving competency in industrial relations has facilitated collaborative partnerships, promoted capacity building opportunities and supported initiatives to drive supply chain diversity.
Kinaway’s Aboriginal business database is critical to identifying certified businesses within categories. Through the database, VIDA engages certified businesses to increase social procurement spends internally and, on projects. It also supports contractors to achieve contractual commitments focused on Aboriginal employment hours as well as increasing employment opportunities and create further social benefits.
Access to lunch and learn cultural workshops provide a critical cultural overlay and enhance the membership by providing an opportunity to expose our workforce to cultural competency delivered by a trusted and respected source.
As Kinaway continues to evolve, we welcome collaboration with their national counterparts and government departments, to leverage best practice procurement frameworks, approaches and strategies that will further grow the sectors reach and impact.
What is the Partner’s mission or aim in supporting the Indigenous economy? How will Kinaway member businesses benefit from this partnership?
Engagement with Aboriginal people and businesses across every stage of a project is a priority for VIDA. As an agency delivery Victoria’s largest infrastructure agenda, we continue to create opportunities for Victorian Aboriginal people and seek to influence industry to do the same. We want to build on the great work to date by finding ways to deepen Aboriginal engagement across our projects and embed it into our culture.
How does the Partner hope to benefit from their partnership with Kinaway?
VIDA will access Kinaway’s support to introduce new and existing suppliers to contribute to supply chain diversity whilst sharing cultural insights and the latest information on Aboriginal procurement to delivery contractors and facilitate collaboration within the industry.