Reconciliation Action Plans are about taking good intent and turning it into action.
The Black Lives Matter protests that 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 remainder of the inhabitants are well known, however the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian government unveiled new Close the Gap targets including reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there may be one obvious solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their enterprise plans. The goal of a RAP is to create significant opportunities for your organisation to actively assist and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that may evolve as you and your organisation start to take action.
RAPs are broken down into 4 maturity ranges that replicate the place organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They’re: Replicate, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate level is for organisations that already understand where they can improve on Indigenous issues and have begun taking motion to actively address them.
The first step for all organisations is to find out its maturity level. “Contact the RAP staff at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which level you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP workforce will send you a template that will outline what you could do. There are some primary obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia similar to celebrating national Reconciliation Day and growing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s about the modifications you can make.”
Because numerous organisations will start at the Mirror stage, this guide will define the pillars it’s essential to set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It might probably assist to look into why RAPs are so important as well as the present points going through Indigenous people. Reports comparable to Close the Hole can provide context to your RAP and would possibly enable you with the following step.
Secure assist
Part of a profitable RAP is establishing help for reconciliation initiatives across the complete organisation. In most cases this must start on the top.
“Most often I find that if people are introduced with the facts, they beautiful quickly get on board with wanting to be part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals are three per cent of the population. They’ll’t do the heavy lifting in terms of change and infrastructure change, societal change, or altering 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 issues, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a stream-on effect. It makes workers more engaged with their community and they 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 atmosphere, 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 subsequent step is to type a working group that can oversee the whole RAP process. This group will have to be made up of varied representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in charge of planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to include members who have some precise 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 profitable, you’ll need involvement from members who work with clients or purchasers, so that people outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
