Master Builders Victoria (MBV) is celebrating NAIDOC Week as the organisation prepares to launch its first Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). 

NAIDOC Week offers the building and construction industry an opportunity to learn about and participate in celebrations and activities of the oldest, continuous living culture on earth. 

As the peak body for Victoria's building and construction sector, MBV has a crucial role in progressing reconciliation within our industry.  

At MBV, we aim to create a world where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enjoy equal rights, treatment, and access – and are genuinely celebrated as First Nations Australians. 

Promoting reconciliation also aligns with MBV's values and purpose of driving positive change and empowering people to build a better future.  

The MBV team were delighted to be joined by Indigenous artist and Bunurong man Adam Magennis at its East Melbourne office yesterday to officially celebrate NAIDOC Week and perform the official Welcome to Country. 

Mr Magennis has assisted MBV in creating its first RAP to identify practices to make the organisation and the industry more culturally aware. 

The RAP outlines the activities we will undertake to support reconciliation in Australia, where we elevate First Nations voices and support their right to self-determination.   

MBV is still in the early stages of its reconciliation journey as an organisation.  

However, celebrating NAIDOC Week is just one step in that journey to ensure our team is aware, understands and is respectful of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

As part of MBV's commitment to building a culture that embraces First Nations peoples, MBV's RAP Working Group engaged the Aboriginal Consultancy Group, Wan-Yaari, to undertake cultural workshops at MBV. 

These workshops have been rolled out to our entire team. 

By the end of these, all our team members at MBV will have developed a better understanding, respect and awareness of First Nations people and their cultures. 

In advance of the official launch of our RAP, MBV will continue to progress reconciliation by strengthening the connections that have been established with several First Nations organisations and building new partnerships and opportunities for collaboration.  

This year's NAIDOC week theme is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!  

At MBV, we embrace this motto and hope that we can all Get Up, Stand Up and Show Up together for systemic change and to build a more just and equitable society in which First Nations rights are recognised.