BP Australia partners with Unisport to present the 2019 Indigenous nationals and scholarship

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from around Australia will compete in four sports including touch football, netball, basketball and volleyball. There will also be a day dedicated to competing in traditional Indigenous sports.

The Indigenous Nationals was founded in 1996 at the Wollotuka Institute at The University of Newcastle and has grown from 13 to over 300 participants. The Indigenous Nationals create a great environment to not only celebrate the rich sporting culture of Indigenous Australia but to also acknowledge the heritage and history of the participating student-athletes.

Through this partnership BP Australia will present two $5,000 scholarships to the most promising Indigenous student-athletes (male and female) to support both academic and athletic endeavours. Scholarship recipients will also be offered mentoring and professional development opportunities.

In addition, UniSport Australia will promote career opportunities at BP Australia to its 43-member organisations via the UniSport career resource page on its website. These include graduate and intern positions as well as retail vacancies across the country.

Andy Holmes, BP Australia President said “The 2019 Indigenous Nationals celebrates Indigenous culture and sporting achievement and is an exciting example of how we are delivering our Reconciliation Action Plan. This partnership allows us to connect with Indigenous students and share our commitment to building our Indigenous workforce by offering diverse employment opportunities across Australia.”

BP’s third Reconciliation Action Plan was launched in October 2018. The Reconciliation Action Plan sets four focus areas to build on the progress made to date and be open to new possibilities, these include; encouraging cultural respect; strengthening partnerships; unlocking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent; and leading innovation.

“We are delighted that BP has partnered with us to support the Indigenous Nationals” said UniSport CEO Mark Sinderberry, “BP has recognised the link between participation in sport and graduate employability and the BP scholarships offer another pathway for Indigenous students to gain a competitive edge in the workforce.”

Students interested in registering for the 2019 Indigenous Nationals, please contact your university Indigenous representative or sport department.

For more information on Retail, Graduate and Internship opportunities at BP, please visit www.bp.com/en_au/australia/careers.html

Notes to editors

About BP

1. BP is one of Australia’s leading premium fuel retailers with around 1,400 branded retail fuel sites across the country, of which approximately 350 are company-owned, and more than 1,000 are owned and operated by our independent business partners. BP is one of Australia’s most significant investors, contributing to local economies, building infrastructure and creating jobs through our upstream and downstream businesses. BP directly employs around 5,700 people with many thousands more indirectly employed through our partners, contractors and suppliers.
2. BP launched the company’s third Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in October 2018. The 2018-2020 BP Reconciliation Action Plan can be found at: https://www.bp.com/en_au/australia/social-investmentsustainability/reconciliation.html

Further information

BP Press Office - Australia

Peter Flowers

Phone: +61 (0)410 479 002

Email: peter.flowers@bp.com