Our Reconciliation Action Plan
In May 2025, we launched our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), marking a significant next step in our reconciliation journey and reinforcing our commitment to truth-telling, cultural respect and meaningful partnerships with First Nations peoples.
Building on the foundations of the Reflect RAP launched in 2022, the new RAP sets out a two-year program of actions to embed reconciliation across the organisation’s strategy, workforce, and operations. It includes commitments to cultural immersion, increased employment and procurement opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the integration of traditional ecological knowledge into Busselton Water’s water management strategies.
This RAP has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia.
Busselton Water is a member of the Reconciliation Action Plan program, a network of more than 3,000 corporate, government, and not-for-profit organisations that have made a formal commitment to reconciliation through the RAP program.
About the art – KEIP The Element of Life
In Noongar, “Keip” (or Kep, Keipa) means water. It’s a common Noongar word used to refer to water, particularly fresh water.
Aboriginal culture holds a deep knowledge of the natural world.
Water holds immense cultural and spiritual importance and is used to define cultural boundaries and to support the traditional land management techniques that have been successfully used for thousands of years.
A key component of the perpetual cycle, water undergoes constant transformation throughout the Seasons, serving as essential nourishment for the entire ecosystem. Its progression is intrinsically linked to precise factors, perfectly in sync, foretelling what’s to come.
Noongar people understood the importance of all precious resources and have preserved this knowledge that shows this interconnected and contingent synergy.
In the South West of Western Australia, the Noongar calendar recognises six Seasons – Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang – each representing a subtle, yet powerful shift in nature’s cycles.
The preservation of this traditional knowledge is crucial to maintaining environmental balance and creating a prosperous future for generations. By protecting the knowledge of the six Seasons, we can continue to care for the land’s intricate waterways – from oceans, rivers and streams to estuaries – ensuring a sustainable ecosystem for all.
About the artist – Natalie Clark, Djarliny Designs
Natalie Clark was born in Undalup (Busselton) and is from the Wardandi/Bibbulman Noongar community.
As traditional owners of Undalup, her family has lived on these lands since the beginning of time and through their unbroken connections and inherited knowledge of the land, have thrived for generations, providing a distinct perspective and a rooted understanding of this region.
Her Totem spirit animal, the blue-tongued lizard, known in local dialect as Yoorn was given to her at a young age. She was also given the artist-name Djarliny, which is the Noongar word for ‘flame”.
Natalie uses bright colours and complex symbolism to describe the connection between culture, her environment and the fast-paced world we live in.
Professionally painting for more than a decade, Natalie has commissioned many artworks that are treasured by local, national and international collectors.
“My artwork depicts a visual representation of the delicate balance and vital connections that exist between my Culture and the forces of nature in our environment that affect us all.”
