The Office of First Nations Engagement

Our ambition is to help empower First Nations people, maintain a trusted position in the market and within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and contribute meaningfully to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

To enable this, our Office of First Nations Engagement provides a central point of contact at EY Australia for strategic advice and practical support on First Nations policy, communities, and culture. We facilitate an integrated approach across all services lines in EY Australia, focusing on:

• Supporting the economic empowerment and inclusion of First Nations businesses.
• Recruiting and retaining First Nations talent.
• Improving and maintaining our cultural intelligence.

Led by Managing Partner Norman Laing (Dunghutti Nation) and the first Indigenous partner at EY Australia, we offer a unique service that combines cultural knowledge and lived experiences complemented by over 25 years of experience in law and policy across the Indigenous affairs portfolio.

The Office of First Nations Engagement draws upon First Nations and non-First Nations team members from across our Australian service lines as well as maintaining strong relationships with external First Nations advisors and consultants in providing culturally informed professional services to our clients while improving the lives and life opportunities for First Nations people and their communities.

EY Australia Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2025 – 2027

The EY Australia Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is a reflection of our continued and enduring reconciliation journey and commitment to embed cultural intelligence within our teams as well as our support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and entrepreneurs through internal and client service delivery procurement opportunities.

Our RAP is focused on four strategic priority areas to reflect the domains in which EY Australia can make meaningful and enduring contributions to Closing the Gap and reconciliation.

Our RAP priority areas are:

1. Cultural intelligence
   Support the teams across EY Australia to develop and help their cultural intelligence through on-line, in-person and immersive training and experiences. Our intention is to create and maintain a workplace that values and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures through continuous education.
2. Talent and recruitment
   Support the success of current and future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team members and improve their careers through early engagement, employment opportunities and professional development.
3. Procurement and entrepreneurship
   Support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and entrepreneurs through procurement opportunities, strengthening capacity and networks. We will continue to work with Supply Nation and other inter-jurisdictional Indigenous Chambers of Commerce to create sustainable procurement practices and the improving long-term investment in and growth of First Nations businesses.
4. Governance, tracking and reporting
   Support the embedding of reconciliation across EY Australia, including its governance and reporting, to help ensure that our efforts in making impacts to Closing the Gap through economic empowerment and inclusion are sustainable and transparent. 

Contact us

At EY Australia, we search for opportunities to support reconciliation and Closing the Gap through our procurement activities, talent and recruitment, engagements and community contributions.

To explore collaborating on an opportunity, email our team at: OFNE@au.ey.com