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 problems affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the remainder of the inhabitants are well known, but the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian government unveiled new Shut the Hole targets together with reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there’s one obvious solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia launched RAPs as a way for organisations to incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their business plans. The aim 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 four maturity ranges that mirror where organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They are: Mirror, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand the place they will improve on Indigenous points 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 degree you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP workforce will ship you a template that can define what it’s good to do. There are some primary obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia such as celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and growing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s about the modifications you possibly can make.”
Because quite a lot of organisations will start at the Replicate stage, this guide will outline the pillars it is advisable to set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is the place it all begins.
It may assist to look into why RAPs are so necessary as well as the present issues facing Indigenous people. Reports akin to Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and may show you how to with the next step.
Secure support
A part of a successful RAP is establishing support for reconciliation initiatives across the whole organisation. In most cases this must start at the top.
“Most often I discover that if people are offered with the info, they pretty quickly get on board with desirous to be part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons 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 significant 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 flow-on effect. It makes staff more engaged with their community they usually typically 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 following step is to form a working group that can 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 answerable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who have some actual energy to make modifications within the organisation, and members who understand it from a policy and culture perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll need involvement from members who work with prospects or purchasers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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