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 a lot of Australians to rethink the problems affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population are well known, but the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian government unveiled new Shut the Gap targets together with reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there may be one apparent solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their enterprise plans. The purpose of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities on your organisation to actively assist 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 are: Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For example, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand where they can improve on Indigenous issues and have begun taking action to actively address them.
The first step for all organisations is to find out its maturity level. “Contact the RAP workforce at Reconciliation Australia and find out which stage you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP group will send you a template that can define what you have to do. There are some primary obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia corresponding to celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and growing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the changes you possibly can make.”
Because loads of organisations will start at the Reflect stage, this guide will define the pillars you could 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 essential as well as the current points dealing with Indigenous people. Reports equivalent to Close the Gap can provide context to your RAP and would possibly show you how to with the following step.
Secure help
A part of a profitable RAP is establishing assist for reconciliation initiatives across your entire organisation. In most cases this needs to start on the top.
“Most frequently I find that if persons are presented with the information, they beautiful quickly get on board with desirous to be a 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 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 employee understanding of Indigenous points, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a move-on effect. It makes staff more engaged with their community and so they typically choose to donate to, or volunteer with, Indigenous organisations as a result.
A RAP also solidifies your organisation’s commitment to creating a culturally safe work environment, which expands your recruiting pool by making your workplace a more attractive employer to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander employees.
Establish a working group
The following step is to type a working group that can oversee your entire RAP process. This group will need to be made up of assorted representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is answerable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to encompass members who have some actual power to make changes within the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and tradition perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll want involvement from members who work with prospects or clients, so that people outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
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