Reconciliation Action Plans are about taking good intent and turning it into action.
The Black Lives Matter protests which have erupted across the globe have caused quite a lot of Australians to rethink the issues affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population are well known, however the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian government unveiled new Shut the Gap targets including reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there is one obvious solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia launched RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their enterprise plans. The purpose of a RAP is to create significant opportunities to your organisation to actively help and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that will evolve as you and your organisation start to take action.
RAPs are broken down into 4 maturity ranges that mirror the place organisations are of their reconciliation journey. They’re: Mirror, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand where they’ll improve on Indigenous issues and have begun taking motion to actively address them.
Step one for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. “Contact the RAP group at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which degree you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP group will ship you a template that can define what it is advisable to do. There are some basic compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia similar to celebrating national Reconciliation Day and rising knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the adjustments you possibly can make.”
Because quite a lot of organisations will start at the Replicate stage, this guide will outline the pillars you want to set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is the place it all begins.
It may possibly assist to look into why RAPs are so vital as well as the current issues facing Indigenous people. Reports reminiscent of Shut the Gap can provide context to your RAP and may enable you to with the following step.
Safe help
Part of a successful RAP is establishing support for reconciliation initiatives throughout all the organisation. In most cases this must start at the top.
“Most often I find that if persons are introduced with the facts, they stunning quickly get on board with desirous to be a part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons are three per cent of the population. They can’t do the heavy lifting when it comes to change and infrastructure change, societal change, or changing attitudes.
“RAPs are a way of stepping in and making meaningful change.”
Over 1,000 organisations have formalised RAPs, and their implementation has had a real impact on improving worker understanding of Indigenous points, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a stream-on effect. It makes employees more engaged with their community they usually often select to donate to, or volunteer with, Indigenous organisations as a result.
A RAP additionally solidifies your organisation’s commitment to creating a culturally safe work setting, which expands your recruiting pool by making your workplace a more attractive employer to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander employees.
Set up a working group
The following step is to form a working group that will oversee your entire RAP process. This group will need to be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is accountable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to encompass members who’ve some actual energy to make changes within the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and culture perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll want involvement from members who work with clients or shoppers, so that people outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
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