In July 2025, Windlab's Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) was endorsed by Reconciliation Australia, marking an important milestone in our commitment to advancing reconciliation through meaningful action.

One year on, we are proud of the progress we've made while recognising that reconciliation is an ongoing commitment rather than a destination. Our RAP challenges us to continuously strengthen relationships, deepen understanding, create opportunities, and embed reconciliation into the way we work to ensure we are an inclusive and belonging workplace for all.

As a renewable energy developer, were recognise the responsibility that comes with developing projects on Country. We are committed to working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in ways that respect culture, support self-determination, and create shared, long-term value for communities. We also want Windlab to be a place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples participate and thrive as employees, contractors, or community partners.  

Over the past year, our focus has been on moving beyond commitments on paper to embedding reconciliation into our governance, our project delivery, our people practices, and our day-to-day decision-making.

As we reach the halfway point of our Innovate RAP, we are reflecting on what we've achieved, what we've learned, and where we're focusing next.

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Relationships

Building respectful, genuine relationships is fundamental to reconciliation.

Over the past year, we have continued strengthening how we engage with Traditional Owners, First Nations communities, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.

A significant milestone has been the development and launch of our Traditional Owner Engagement Guide, which establishes a consistent approach to engagement across the lifecycle of our renewable energy projects.

We have also continued building relationships with Aboriginal Corporations to help oversee and advise on the delivery of commitments associated with our projects. This has included discussions with the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation on the pathway forward for the Whyalla West Wind Energy Project's Indigenous Land Use Agreement and Cultural Heritage Agreement, and the signing of a Cultural Heritage Management Agreement and Shared Benefits Agreement with the Auburn Hawkwood Peoples Aboriginal Corporation for the Bungaban Wind Energy Project.

Across our projects, we continue to apply the Leading Practice Principles: First Nations and Renewable Energy Projects, recognising that meaningful engagement is built on trust, transparency, and long-term partnerships. We also seek to achieve Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), in line with the key outcomes of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

What we've learned

Strong relationships cannot be built through consultation alone. They require consistency, listening, and a willingness to adapt our approach based on feedback and experience.

Our focus for year two

We will continue to strengthen relationships with Traditional Owners of our project sites and the broader First Nations community by embedding our engagement framework across projects and seeking opportunities for earlier and more meaningful collaboration built on trust, honesty, and transparency.

Respect

Respect begins with understanding.

Throughout the year we have expanded opportunities for cultural learning across the organisation. This included education sessions exploring the Cultural Heritage Act and Native Title Act, reviewing our cultural learning needs, and developing a cultural awareness capability framework to guide future learning. We engaged Tarina Fanning Aboriginal Consultancy Training Services, who facilitated cultural awareness training to our employees across various office locations.

We strengthened our learning program by introducing baseline anti-racism learning as part of our employee onboarding process, ensuring all new employees are equipped with a shared understanding of cultural safety, respectful behaviours, and our expectations for recognising and responding to racism. We also hosted a Gari Yala (Speak the Truth) 2 Lunch and Learn session with Professor Nareen Young, creating an opportunity for employees to deepen their understanding of the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australian workplaces and the importance of culturally safe and inclusive workplaces.  

We celebrated both NAIDOC Week and National Reconciliation Week across our offices, creating opportunities for our people to learn, reflect and engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and achievements.

We also reviewed our people policies to better support participation in significant cultural events, including providing greater flexibility for employees to attend events such as NAIDOC Week celebrations.

Respect is also demonstrated through everyday actions. We continue to embed cultural protocols through the use of Acknowledgement of Country at meetings and Welcome to Country ceremonies at key events and other important occasions.

During the year, we also experienced a racism-related incident involving key stakeholders. While challenging, it reinforced that creating culturally safe workplaces requires more than policies—it requires awareness, accountability and the confidence to recognise and respond to racism.

In response, we strengthened our policies and practices, reviewed how we identify and manage racism-related risks, and commenced work on enhanced anti-racism learning and practical guidance for our people.

We also began researching leading approaches to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) within the renewable energy sector to help inform and strengthen our engagement with Traditional Owners.

What we've learned

Cultural safety is created through everyday behaviours. Policies and learning provide an important foundation, but lasting change comes from the choices people make every day to listen, learn, and act with respect.

Our focus for year two

Our priorities include launching our Responding to Racism Guide, evolving our cultural capability framework by building on the foundations established in FY26, and expanding cultural learning opportunities, and continuing to build the confidence of our people to recognise and respond to racism.

Opportunities

Creating opportunities means ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can participate meaningfully in the economic and social benefits generated through our work.

A significant achievement this year was establishing a partnership between Windlab, the Gugu Badhun Aboriginal Corporation (GBAC) and Australian Pacific Indigenous Personnel (APIP) to deliver the co-designed Gawara Baya–Gugu Badhun Employment and Training Strategy. As the project moves towards construction, the partnership will support culturally informed pathways into employment, skills development, and regional business participation, helping connect Traditional Owners, local people, and regional suppliers with future opportunities.

We have also continued strengthening our commitment to Indigenous procurement through our membership of Supply Nation and by actively engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and consultancies for goods and services across our operations and projects.

Alongside this work, we have sought to improve our understanding of workforce representation by encouraging employees to voluntarily update their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification information. This will help inform future employment, development and support initiatives while protecting employee privacy through de-identified reporting.

What we've learned

Creating meaningful opportunities requires good information, strong partnerships, and a long-term commitment. Success is measured not only by activity, but by lasting outcomes for people and communities.

Our focus for year two

We will continue identifying opportunities to strengthen Indigenous procurement, improve workforce representation, and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation across our projects and operations.

Governance

Strong governance ensures reconciliation remains embedded across our business rather than existing as a standalone initiative.

Over the past year, we have continued monitoring progress against our RAP commitments through our RAP Working Group and leadership oversight. We launched a dedicated reconciliation page on our website to publicly report on our progress, and have continued integrating reconciliation into business planning and decision-making.

What we've learned

Good governance isn't simply about tracking actions. It's about creating a culture of accountability where reconciliation informs decision-making across the organisation.

Our focus for year two

We will complete our RAP Impact Survey for Reconciliation Australia by September 2026 and will continue monitoring our progress, publicly reporting on our commitments, and identifying opportunities to strengthen accountability as we work towards the completion of our Innovate RAP.

Looking ahead

Reconciliation is not something that can be achieved through a single initiative or within the life of one RAP. It is built over time through relationships, respect, shared learning, and meaningful action.

As we move into the second half of our Innovate RAP, we remain committed to listening, learning and working alongside Traditional Owners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Aboriginal Corporations, communities and businesses to create positive and lasting outcomes.

We thank our employees, Traditional Owners, First Nations partners, and communities for the relationships, conversations, and collaboration that continue to shape our journey. We look forward to continuing this work together.