Our communities

Making a valuable contribution to the communities where we live and work is important to Datacom.

Our commitment to community starts with our own people — we want everyone to feel empowered to bring their whole self to work and to know they will be valued for their unique, diverse perspectives.

For Datacom, being committed to our communities is also about building connections and creating and connecting people with new opportunities. To ensure these connections are meaningful, we are investing more time in understanding the culture and tikanga of our communities and we are supporting our teams to build their knowledge and cultural capability.

We believe we have a responsibility to the communities where we live and work to find ways to support greater equity in the tech sector — both in access to technology and in the opportunities offered by a career in tech.

Datacom team photo during the set up for Big Gay Out

Building Pride in who we are

We want Datacom to be an inclusive and welcoming workplace for everyone, including those in the LGBTQI+ community.

We recently launched our new set of values, which includes "It’s the people” and “Courage to act”. Pride at Datacom is about showing respect in the workplace and creating an environment that means we can all bring our best selves to work. It takes courage to create change in our society.

At Datacom, we’re committed to following through and ensuring our workplace matches our inclusive values.

Datacom has achieved the Rainbow Tick certification in New Zealand for the second year in a row, and we’re also working towards recognition in the Australian Workplace Equality Index.

These certifications help celebrate our internal Pride initiatives, including our LGBTQI+ inclusion training, updated guidelines around inclusive dress codes and parental leave, and our support for team members with transgender and gender-diverse experiences.

We’re also working to become more visible in the broader community. We had a great time at Auckland’s Big Gay Out in February, where we offered space to recharge and chill out while celebrating with the local community.

This year we had 13 delegates from our Datacom Connect team attend the Equality Project’s Better Together 2021 national LGBTIQ+ conference in Adelaide. It was a fantastic opportunity to empower new rainbow leaders in our own community, as they participated in discussions with a focus on how Datacom can work to create a more inclusive workplace and create cultural change.

These engagements are an investment in our future as a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we’re committed to growing and changing alongside our people.

A journey of learning

With more than 3000 team members working in towns and cities across Australia, we are looking at how we connect with the Indigenous communities and businesses around us.

One step we’ve taken this year is to partner with the Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium (IDIC). 

​​​​​​​The IDIC is a group of Indigenous-owned businesses working together to provide a range of services to major contractors in Australia. ​The goal is to grow sustainable businesses and support emerging Indigenous Entrepreneurs in Australia. ​ 

With IDIC’s guidance, Datacom is looking to include Indigenous businesses in our supply chain by providing contracting opportunities, and providing feedback to support improve bidding, negotiating, invoicing and reporting processes. 

IDIC is also providing Datacom with support and guidance in the development and implemention of a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

Some of the steps we are taking are happening at a community level, with our teams reaching out to learn more about Indigenous culture and traditions. 

When the Noarlunga team got together to celebrate the opening and one-year anniversary of the South Australian Customer Service Hub with our partner Services Australia, they were privileged to have a Welcome to Country delivered by Kaurna elder Mickey O’Brien.

During this year’s commemorations for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week, another of our Connect teams in Modbury reached out to Brett Goodes from IDIC and Mickey O’Brien and marked the week with a Welcome to Country, storytelling, smoking ceremony and Kari-Woppa session (cultural craft session).

“As an organisation we know we are on an ongoing learning journey,” says Tom Paine, chair of Datacom’s RAP committee.

 

“We want to show our respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, to learn more and to make sure Datacom is an inclusive workplace, where people feel they can bring their whole self to work and that the company values them for who they are.”

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Working at ‘mana to mana’ level with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

Earlier this year Datacom Group and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu signed a strategic partnership agreement to deliver a series of tech projects and a new pathway for Māori youth interested in the tech sector.

Training and placements opportunities are available for Ngāi Tahu rangatahi with Datacom, and support is being provided to develop the tribal council’s technical capability.

“This partnership will help us to identify and share leading technology solutions with hapū and whānau across the Ngāi Tahu takiwā (tribal region),” says Arihia.

Alongside building new channels for training and development, the kaupapa with Ngāi Tahu will help Datacom better understand the needs of Māori in the tech sector.

“By working with Ngāi Tahu, Datacom sees this partnership as an opportunity to enable more young Māori mokopuna to find a pathway into the tech sector,” says Datacom Group CEO, Greg Davidson. “We are working to create opportunities to consider a career in the sector and to see organisations where they can thrive and won’t have to leave their identity at the door.”

 

“We’re particularly excited to create and discover new opportunities to support our rangatahi to build a career in the technology sector. By working together at a mana to mana level, we can weave new technologies into our operations, and share insights into Te Ao Māori with Datacom.”

Arihia Bennett
Chief Executive Officer of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

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Opening doors to Take2 graduates

The first graduates from a unique programme teaching a small group of prisoners how to code will soon be ready to apply their skills in the real world — and Datacom is one of the companies offering internships.

During the 12-month pilot programme, the participants have been learning intermediate web and app development through a handful of programming languages.

Managing Director Justin Gray says two students from the original cohort will intern with Datacom, and the focus will be on providing a supportive and nurturing environment where they can apply and grow their skills.

Take2 founder and CEO Cameron Smith says it is about ensuring people are not going back to the outside world without any skills or any opportunity. 

“What we’re doing is providing them hope. It’s about allowing them to improve their quality of life.”

“We want to help them with that next part of the journey. I would love for us, in another six or 12 months’ time, to be able to point to some great examples of people who’ve not only gone through the programme, but actually successfully transitioned into meaningful employment that’s great for them."

Justin Gray
Managing Director, Technology Services, New Zealand, Datacom

Two people discussing lines of code

Hands-on at Homeless Connect

Providing free services and support to people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness is the focus for the Homeless Connect events that run every year in Brisbane.

For the past few years volunteers from Datacom have run the cloakroom, helping distribute thousands of items of clothing, toiletries and food donated by businesses and community groups.

At the last event, Homeless Connect hosted more than 600 guests, served 1370 meals, provided 200 health consultations and access to community and government services, and distributed more than 50 pallets of food, toiletries, clothes and shoes. 

“Contributing to the communities where our offices and teams are located is very important and Homeless Connect in Brisbane is one of the events where our teams get to make a hands-on contribution," says Kate Mellifont, Datacom's Social Media Manager.

“It gets hectic in the cloakroom but it is wonderful to be part of something like this where you can do something practical to help people when they need it most.”

Run by Brisbane District Council, Homeless Connect has helped more than 18,580 people since it began, and each event now brings together hundreds of volunteers from local businesses and community groups.

A man and a woman wearing a pink vest that says "Free hugs"