Our Social Impact
This Statement represents a bi-annual commitment with implementation beginning in January 2024.
As a for purpose organisation we have a social responsibility, not only to the members we serve, but to the community in which we all live.
For individuals to flourish they need to live in communities that are doing the same.
Social accountability means being responsible for positive social change. For Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA) this means identifying the issues that prevent our communities from flourishing, establishing areas where we can have an impact, setting action steps as part of our strategic plan and measuring our impact against manageable targets.
SCIA has aligned our key focus areas to the Paris Agreement United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that set a goal of sustainable development by 2030.
Each of our focus areas aligns to one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Social Impact Statement outlines our 4 key focus areas each aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- Reconciliation
- Environmental Sustainability
- Diversity
- Flexibility
Key partnerships underpin the work that we do including. The first if which is our support of the Human Rights Commissions Racism. it Stops with Me Campaign. Additionally, we have formed successfully partnerships with Reconciliation NSW and Diversity Council Australia.
Racism. It stops with me.
Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA) is proud to support the Racism. It Stops With Me campaign. Racism is more than just harmful words or individual actions. It includes biases in our society, its laws, institutions and ways of thinking.
SCIA is committed to learning more and taking action. Racial inequality affects all of us, whether directly or otherwise, and there is a role for us all to play in addressing it.
This year, we are redoubling our commitment to anti-racism. We are committed to preventing racism by pledging to undertake activities in support of the campaign. Racism is never acceptable and we all have a responsibility to stand up against it. The campaign, which is being led by the Australian Human Rights Commission, has been developed by a partnership of government and non-government agencies.
No matter how challenging the conversation, we need to talk about racism and the causes of inequality. By taking a stand against racism, we can build a fair and equal society – for all.
Racism. It Stops With Me.
The “Racism. It Stops With Me” campaign welcomes organisational and individual supporters. For more information about the campaign go to their website.
Commitment to our First Nations People
SCIA is committed to an equitable Australia and recognises the importance and significant contribution of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples on whose lands we live and work.
We are proud to have developed our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), our formal commitment to Reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in 2021 and more recently, in early 2024, submitted our Innovate RAP to Reconciliation Australia for approval.
Our vision is to increase awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, knowledge, and leadership within our community. Over the coming years we will work collaboratively to ensure that our own services are culturally safe and welcoming so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples with spinal and neurological conditions have improved health and social outcomes.
This year, we were deeply humbled to work with First Nations artist Hunter Barnes to created a Narration through Optic incorporating motifs with dual representations, drawing from traditional Aboriginal culture and beliefs while conveying SCIA’s message. Hunter is a proud Ngiyampaa man descendant of Jimmy Keewong and Kitty Nerange. He is well known for his realism oil paintings, portrait, and contemporary Aboriginal artwork as well as tattoo. Read the full explanation of Hunters Narration . We also launched our new Acknowledgement of Country developed by Dr Stacey Kim Coates.
The ‘Welcome Here’ Project
As a proud member of ACON‘s Welcome Here Project, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia commits to fully supporting the project’s three core commitments:
- Welcome and include LGBTIQ+ people
- Create positive change in your local community
- Celebrate LGBTIQ+ Diversity (see LGBTIQ Diversity Days Project)
Visible, welcomed LGBTIQ communities mean safer communities, and by becoming a registered Welcoming Place, SCIA is helping to create a positive social change throughout Australia.
Diversity Council Australia (DCA) Member
Through our membership we will prioritise best practice and develop our expertise across all the diversity dimensions including gender, culture and religion, generational and mature age, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, LGBTIQ+, disability and accessibility, flexibility and work-life, and mental health.
