Our Indigenous Engagement and RAP
Our Indigenous Engagement and RAP
At UniLodge Living Group, we are proud to have developed a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), a formal commitment to advancing reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
While the RAP is specific to our operations in Australia, the values and principles it represents (respect, inclusivity, and social responsibility) are embedded across everything we do, including in our work in New Zealand and beyond. We are committed to listening, learning, and walking alongside First Nations peoples to foster stronger, more inclusive communities, wherever we operate.
Our RAP provides a framework for meaningful action built on relationships, respect, and opportunities. It guides how we engage with First Nations communities, create culturally safe spaces, and support equity through employment, education, and awareness.
Strengthening Reconciliation Through Story, Spirit, and Action
Since the launch of UniLodge’s first RAP in 2024, our path has been shaped by the spirit of walking together, with Aunt Vonnie leading the way through cultural knowledge, community connection, and deep care for our residents.
Aunt Vonnie is our Indigenous Advisor, based on-campus at James Cook University in Townsville. Known for her warm guidance, deep cultural knowledge, and commitment to creating safe, welcoming spaces for all residents, she supports initiatives and further education across UniLodge Living Group.
From Aunt Vonnie’s Resource Backpack:
This is more than a document, it’s a shared commitment to walking together with open hearts, truth-telling spirits, and cultural care. Our RAP stands on four strong pillars, each one representing a step forward on our reconciliation journey: Relationships, Respect, Opportunities and Governance.
Together, these pillars hold up more than just a plan, they support a cultural shift, a stronger future, and a safer, more inclusive home for all our residents. As we continue on this path, I invite everyone — residents, staff, and community — to walk beside us, listen deeply, and lead with respect.
About the Artwork in Our RAP
This artwork symbolises the many communities and global experiences that make up our UniLodge Living Group family from our team members to the residents who call our properties home.
It reflects a shared sense of belonging, multiculturalism, and community, capturing the diversity that flows through every part of our organisation.
At the heart of the piece is a central meeting place, representing us. Surrounding it are community circles of all colours, shapes and sizes, each unique, yet all connected. These overlapping forms reflect the strength and unity found in our differences.
Layered beneath the dotwork are elements of waterholes and desert landscapes, paying tribute to the many places our people come from and the rich cultural foundations that shape us. This underlayer also honours the origins of modern Western Desert art and the powerful legacy of First Nations storytelling.
About the Artist
Our artist is Ambrose Scott Killian, proud desert/Eastern Arrernte and Western Bundjalung/ Wahlubul man.
I am a proud father to Amias Angale Killian and Akira Angale Killian and loving husband. I was born on Larrakia country (Darwin) and I am currently residing in Meanjin/ Brisbane on beautiful Quandamooka country to which I now call home and have since 1999.
The Artist’s Journey
My Nana, Barbara-Anne Chisholm, was born on Eastern Arrernte country and was stolen and raised north of Darwin on Melville Island before moving to Brisbane and then back to Darwin after her schooling had finished. My Grandfather, Ambrose Morgan was of Bundjalung and African American decent and grew up around Redfern, NSW, so I have family, connections, experiences and stories to share through all these regions – the rugged desert country of central Australia, freshwater country of Tabalum and Wahlabul area, as well as the saltwater country of Darwin and Bayside Brisbane.
I have always been a day dreamer and drawer, finding myself stuck sketching and drawing from a very young age – it was and always will be my vessel for communicating, connecting to Apmere/country, and translating and sharing stories of myself, my ancestors and the notion of ‘Country’. Art and creating has always been my safe space, letting me share my feelings and stories in a realm that lacks judgement and is only limited to one’s imagination. My drive to learn more about the cultural significance of our art really began in 2010 when I created a large piece titled ‘Grey’.
This piece won the Indigenous Heart Foundation Student Award and toured QLD galleries for the remainder of the year. More importantly, it opened my passion and drive to keep painting and learning about our art and culture, contacting my elders and being really motivated to learn and share my knowledge with those who take the time to listen.
I enjoy acrylic medium on canvas as well as utilising spray paint, finding myself painting pieces with a prominent foreground image/ subject, or landscape style paintings. I am colour-blind, so choosing the right colour pallet was always a challenge for traditional art and curriculum during my time at school but has been very rewarding when I hear that I’ve ‘nailed the colours’ that I often can hardly see or distinguish.
You will often see me utilising browns, pinks, and neutral tones to represent the desert and the land, whilst working in subtle hints of blue to represent our waterways. I am captivated by our beautiful environment, and specifically the night sky so I find myself painting and creating pieces with silhouettes of people and our animals in some of these landscapes.
My fondest memories are under the star lit night sky when camping in the Territory or with my biological Father in Perth, which you will see strong references to in a lot of my artwork. Our ancestors did not have books, giant relics and buildings to teach our culture and lore, so I feel it is my duty and responsibility to teach and expose people to our culture through my artwork and stories.
These have been handed down to me and help me acknowledge my roots from when our mob were moved to the small township / community Papunya, and link to when the contemporary First Nations Art movements began as we now know it.
"Walking gently, listening deeply, holding each other strong"
With our global head office located in Brisbane, on the traditional lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, within Yuggera Country, we pay our deepest respects to Elders past and present. We honour the enduring cultural and spiritual connection First Nations peoples have to Country, and we acknowledge their ongoing contributions to our communities.
