Facilitating Meaningful Acknowledgements of Country With Ngurra Portal
Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) is one of Australia’s largest gas infrastructure businesses. With over 36,000 kilometres of distribution networks, 4,300 kilometres of transmission pipeline and 60 petajoules of gas storage capacity, AGIG delivers gas to two million customers across Australia and employs over 1,000 employees. AGIG strives to contribute more than safe and reliable energy supply in the communities they serve by being a social responsible organisation. In 2023, AGIG launched their first Reflect, Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), before launching their second RAP, the Innovate RAP, in 2025. Among their initial set of objectives set out in their Reflect RAP, were goals to understand the local Indigenous groups in their operational area and to increase their staff's understanding and respect for local cultural protocols.
Respect Starts With Education and Understanding
Acknowledgements of Country have slowly gained momentum following the 2008 Apology by Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Since then, they have been a verbal affirmation of respect and an acknowledgement that sovereignty was never ceded. Organisations across Australia have increased their uptake in delivering Acknowledgements before large company meetings, special events, and other notable gatherings. Whilst this represents a positive step forward, there is still a widespread lack of understanding of the diversity of Australia’s Indigenous cultures. With up to 500 Traditional Owner groups reported, each being unique, many Australians still feel uncertain about how to accurately and respectfully acknowledge Mob. This uncertainty can lead to avoidance or a perceived lack of sincerity in the approach. To address this, AGIG sought a solution that would support their staff to understand the land on which their organisation operates. A solution that would help them to identify the Traditional Owner groups, and in turn, educate and empower staff to feel confident in delivering an acknowledgement.
“Memorising an Acknowledgement of Country is not the same as understanding it. It’s encouraging to see AGIG in active pursuit of understanding. Having Traditional Owner’s Country displayed in an accessible, interactive map encourages curiosity. We need people to be curious. To be engaged. AGIG’s First Nations Web Map will be a lasting educational resource that helps their staff across the country comprehend where they are working and why that matters.”
Making Information Accessible
After grasping AGIG’s desired project outcomes, Winyama’s latest product, the Ngurra Portal, was recommended as the perfect solution. The Ngurra Portal is an innovative mapping tool that pulls together existing datasets; information from native title determinations, registered body corporations, and cultural parties, into a single, amalgamated dataset, which can then be used to create a custom First Nations Web Map, providing any company with a visual understanding of the Country in which their operations are based.
This is beneficial on multiple levels. For one, it provides staff with an accessible tool for Acknowledgements of Country, and two, it saves operational teams time when they need to engage with Traditional Owners. Using a custom First Nations Webmap, it becomes clear who needs to be contacted.
Finally, for companies with limited geospatial resourcing or reach that spans across Australia, curating this type of dataset can be time-consuming and technically challenging. Knowing where to source the data and keep it up to date can be demanding, especially when there are other priorities. Outsourcing the task to Winyama removes this stress.
AGIG’s First Nations Webmap, which shows facilities on Kaurna Pangkarra Country (Adelaide)
Winyama’s base product, named ‘Ngurra,’ is a word that means ‘home,’ ‘country,’ or ‘place of belonging’ in many Aboriginal languages. The portal pays tribute to the deep cultural significance of place for Indigenous communities across Australia.
AGIG’s First Nations Web Map is built from the Ngurra Portal. At each intersection, staff can access information on First Nations organisations and groups, as well as specific details about each First Nations community and organisation type.
Winyama’s base product, named ‘Ngurra,’ is a word that means ‘home,’ ‘country,’ or ‘place of belonging’ in many Aboriginal languages. The portal pays tribute to the deep cultural significance of place for Indigenous communities across Australia.
AGIG’s First Nations Web Map is built from the Ngurra Portal. At each intersection, staff can access information on First Nations organisations and groups, as well as specific details about each First Nations community and organisation type.
AGIG Facility CS06, with details about the First Nation’s Land on which it exists, and the organisation that acts as the Representative Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander body for that Country.
The Results
AGIG's First Nations Web Map has unlocked knowledge for their organisation. As a result of this custom dashboard, they now know their assets span 48 unique First Nations territories, reflecting the scale of their operation across Australia. This is vital information for the organisation, helping ensure compliance with consultation and notification requirements under relevant native title and land access frameworks.
The Web Map, along with physical maps containing the same information, was released company-wide during this year’s NAIDOC Week. As part of the initiative, AGIG staff participated in a ‘Whose Country are you on?” campaign, using the maps to identify their local Traditional Owners and share photos with custom signs at their work locations. There took part in the initiative, with sessions run across the country.
AGIG staff in the Adelaide office pose with one of their custom, printed maps.
“The First Nations Webmap has been an outstanding educational resource for our people. It brings cultural understanding into everyday work by helping our people across Australia learn whose Country they are on and what that means. It has helped make reconciliation part of how we think and operate, and I am incredibly proud of the way it has deepened awareness and respect right across AGIG.”
Implementing the First Nations Web Map initiative at AGIG is not a short-term campaign. It is part of our broader commitment to long-term reconciliation and cultural inclusion.
Following the delivery of their First Nations Web Map, AGIG were the proud recipient of Energy Club WA’s Energy Inclusion Award for 2025, reaffirming the importance of this project for AGIG, and the energy industry as a whole.
“It’s been such an important project for us, it’s great to see it recognised externally by Energy Club WA, the leading industry network for the energy sector in Western Australia” said Owen Sharpe, Strategy and Policy Manager at AGIG.
“What started as an idea to overlay our assets with the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia to better understand the lands where we operate became much bigger and better thanks to Winyama. With their expertise we brought together several geospatial datasets to build an online portal that helps our people understand and respect the Country our asset touch upon.
Working with Winyama has been an absolute pleasure. Their team is always helpful and consistently goes above and beyond. The meaningful assets they’ve created for us – both through the Ngurra Portal and static land maps - are not only visually engaging and educational but have made a real difference to our ways of working. I highly recommend collaborating with Winyama for outstanding results.”
If you’d like to empower your team with the contextual knowledge of local Indigenous groups, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our team are always happy to have a yarn.