First Peoples Relationship Principles
We are committed to Aboriginal self-determination and have been working with Traditional Owner Corporations to develop a set of principles to guide our operations and relationship with Victoria’s First Peoples. The five guiding principles are:
- Recognising, prioritising and embedding the unique knowledge and wisdom of Traditional Owners, which includes caring for and speaking for Country.
- Establishing a renewed relationship with First Peoples in Victoria to ensure that First Peoples can share in the benefits of Victoria’s renewable energy transformation.
- Empowering Traditional Owners and Victorian Aboriginal communities to identify their evolving aspirations and determine their relationship with the SEC.
- Embedding governance principles, policies and processes to ensure the collective support anddecision-making of First Peoples.
- Ensuring Victoria’s energy transition preserves, restores and strengthens the rights of Traditional Owners and does not diminish the rights that have been secured to date.
When SEC began the journey to determine how we walk alongside First Peoples, we jumped quickly to what actions and activities we could undertake to drive self-determination throughout the business.
While this was the right focus, in our first meeting with the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria we were reminded of the importance of first building connections and relationships. We needed to take a step back and create space for First Peoples' perspectives – to define our values and how we will work together.
This is how SEC’s First Peoples' Relationship Principles emerged. They were led by the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria and several Traditional Owner Corporations who co-wrote the principles with SEC. The principles draw on collective lived experience, cultural authority and a clear expectation that First Peoples define relationships on their terms.
SEC’s job was to listen, learn and commit to embedding these expectations into what we do and how we work.
These principles are our north star and hold us accountable. They remind us that walking alongside First Peoples is not a stakeholder exercise. It is relational, based in respect and reciprocity. They set the tone for how we show up with First Peoples and support their aspirations.
