Inclusive and Equitable Workplaces

Meetings and events

Welcome to Country and Acknowledgment of Traditional Owners

A Welcome to Country or an Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners demonstrates respect and acknowledges First Nations peoples’ spiritual, physical and cultural connection to Country.

To learn who the formally recognised Traditional Owners are for a school area, use the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgment Map(opens in a new window).

For more guidance, read Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners and Welcome to Country in Schools.

Inclusive and accessible meetings

Making meetings inclusive means all staff can contribute their best. Simple steps can make meetings and events more inclusive:

• before a meeting, ask attendees if they have accessibility requirements
• allow attendees to attend meetings virtually, where possible
• ask what a person’s preferred method of communication is
• make sure any documents are accessible and are sent out ahead of time
• organise any adjustments ahead of time, such as captioning or interpreters
• check attendees’ dietary needs and label food correctly (for example, Halal, pork-free, beef-free, vegetarian, vegan, Kosher)
• emphasise that non-alcoholic drinks will be provided and appropriate food served
• check a cultural events calendar to avoid excluding any groups (for example, don’t book an active excursion during Ramadan, when Muslim colleagues may be fasting).

Inclusive online and hybrid meetings

Use the resources below to create accessible online and hybrid meetings:

• Accessibility tools for Webex(opens in a new window), including translation, captioning and transcription
• Accessibility tools for Microsoft Teams(opens in a new window)
• Using language interpretation in Microsoft Teams meetings(opens in a new window)
• Online and hybrid meetings guidance (staff login required)(opens in a new window).