Sixth Reconciliation Action Plan

KTAFA × SA Water

Over 100 SA Water employees placed their footprints onto the canvas using acrylic paints, guided by Aboriginal artist Kelly Taylor, as part of SA Water's reconciliation gathering. The resulting artwork — created by Kelly Taylor and T'keyah Ware — is a powerful symbol of connection, commitment and culture, with a central pipeline surrounded by the footprints of staff and community partners.

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100+

Staff footprints on canvas

6th

SA Water RAP (third Stretch)

180×86cm

Original artwork size

2024-27

Stretch RAP period

The commission

A canvas carrying the footprints of a hundred people

The SA Water commission is unlike any other in the KTAFA family's body of work. During the reconciliation gathering, Kelly Taylor guided over 100 SA Water employees as they placed their own footprints onto the canvas using acrylic paints. Each footprint is a personal stamp of commitment — and together they form a collective mark that no single person could make alone. The completed artwork, created by Kelly Taylor and T'keyah Ware, features a central pipeline surrounded by the footprints of staff and community partners, telling a visual story of unity, growth and reconciliation.

2024

A third Stretch RAP — SA Water's sixth plan

SA Water's 2024-27 Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan is the organisation's third Stretch RAP and sixth overall, endorsed by Reconciliation Australia and developed with input from Kauwi Miyurna — SA Water's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee network group.

The plan outlines SA Water's commitments to reconciliation and how the organisation will continue to embed practical actions throughout its operations, provide its people with the ability to collaboratively achieve these actions, and leverage its position as a state-wide essential services provider to increase understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, knowledge and skills in the South Australian community.

SA Water's vision for reconciliation is for healthy communities, sustained by integrating Aboriginal knowledge, culture and rights into long-term planning and everyday work practices.

As a government agency, water utility, employer and landowner, we recognise and respect the connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have to Country and waters, and seek to better understand how we can support economic equity and self-determination.
David Ryan, Chief Executive, SA Water

2024

The reconciliation gathering — 100+ staff place their footprints

As part of the SA Water reconciliation gathering, Kelly Taylor guided over 100 SA Water employees as they placed their own footprints onto the canvas using acrylic paints — each footprint a personal stamp of commitment to the shared journey of reconciliation.

The event brought staff and community partners together around a single canvas, with Kelly directing the placement of footprints so that each person's mark became part of the artwork's story. The result is a piece that is not only painted by the artist but carries the physical imprint of the people it represents.

The completed original artwork measures 180cm wide by 86cm high and is hand-signed by Kelly Taylor — a powerful symbol of connection, commitment and culture that now lives within SA Water.

Over 100+ SA Water employees placed their footprints using acrylic paints, guided by Aboriginal artist Kelly Taylor, as part of SA Water's reconciliation gathering.
KT Aboriginal Fine Art

2024

The artwork — a central pipeline and the footprints of community

Created by Kelly Taylor and T'keyah Ware from KT Aboriginal Fine Art, the artwork tells a visual story of unity, growth and reconciliation. A central pipeline winds through the canvas, surrounded by footprints stamped by the hands of SA Water's people and community partners during the RAP launch event.

The footprints represent the shared journey and commitment to reconciliation — each one placed by a staff member, guided by the artist, creating a collective mark that no single person could make alone.

The painting traces water's journey across South Australia — the rivers, waterholes and waterways that sustain life on Country, depicted through flowing lines, meeting circles and the deep blues and earth tones of water and land.

A central pipeline winds through the canvas, surrounded by footprints stamped by the hands of our people and community partners during the RAP launch event. These footprints represent our shared journey and commitment to reconciliation.
SA Water

2024 onwards

A lasting visual centrepiece for reconciliation

The commissioned artwork serves as a lasting visual centrepiece for SA Water's reconciliation journey — a daily reminder to staff and visitors of the deep connection between the water network, the land it operates on, and the First Nations communities it serves.

SA Water's RAP is supported by a dedicated RAP Working Group, the Kauwi Miyurna employee network, and practical actions including cultural awareness training, procurement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, and community partnerships across the state.

This collaboration reflects KTAFA's growing work with South Australian organisations, creating authentic Aboriginal artwork that carries cultural storytelling into corporate and community settings — with reconciliation at the heart of every brief.

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The gathering in photos

Staff placing their footprints on the canvas

During the SA Water reconciliation gathering, staff gathered around the canvas on the lawn to place their footprints using acrylic paints, guided by Kelly Taylor. These photos capture the event in progress.

The story within the painting

Symbols of water, Country & community

The artwork is layered with cultural symbolism — from the central pipeline that represents SA Water's infrastructure, to the footprints of over 100 staff members, to the waterways that sustain life on Country.

Central pipeline

A pipeline winds through the centre of the canvas, representing SA Water's infrastructure and the water that connects communities across South Australia.

Staff footprints

Over 100 SA Water employees placed their footprints onto the canvas using acrylic paints, guided by Kelly Taylor — each one a personal commitment to reconciliation.