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 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 authorities unveiled new Shut the Hole targets including 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 introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their business plans. The intention of a RAP is to create significant opportunities to your organisation to actively assist and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that will evolve as you and your organisation begin to take action.
RAPs are broken down into 4 maturity levels that reflect the place organisations are of their reconciliation journey. They are: Replicate, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate degree is for organisations that already understand where they can 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 team at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which degree you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP team will ship you a template that may outline what you might want to do. There are some basic compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia akin to celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and rising knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s in regards to the modifications you’ll be able to make.”
Because quite a lot of organisations will start at the Reflect stage, this guide will define the pillars you might want to set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It could possibly help to look into why RAPs are so necessary as well as the current issues facing Indigenous people. Reports corresponding to Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and may assist you with the following step.
Safe assist
A part of a successful RAP is establishing help for reconciliation initiatives across the complete organisation. In most cases this must start on the top.
“Most frequently I discover that if people are presented with the info, they beautiful quickly get on board with desirous to be a part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are three per cent of the population. They will’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 workers 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 making 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.
Establish a working group
The following step is to type a working group that can oversee the complete RAP process. This group will must be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in charge of planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who have some precise power to make changes in the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and culture perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really profitable, you’ll want involvement from members who work with customers or shoppers, so that people outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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