Reconciliation Action Plans are about taking good intent and turning it into action.
The Black Lives Matter protests which have erupted throughout the globe have caused plenty 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 Hole targets together with 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 introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their business plans. The purpose of a RAP is to create significant opportunities in your organisation to actively help 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 of their reconciliation journey. They’re: Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand where they will improve on Indigenous issues and have begun taking action to actively address them.
Step one for all organisations is to find out its maturity level. “Contact the RAP crew at Reconciliation Australia and find out which level you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP crew will send you a template that can outline what you want to do. There are some basic compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia similar to celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s about the modifications you can make.”
Because plenty of organisations will start on the Reflect stage, this guide will outline the pillars you have to establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It could possibly assist to look into why RAPs are so essential as well as the current points facing Indigenous people. Reports akin to Close the Gap can provide context to your RAP and would possibly show you how to with the following step.
Secure assist
Part of a profitable RAP is establishing assist for reconciliation initiatives across all the organisation. In most cases this must start on the top.
“Most often I discover that if people are introduced with the info, they stunning quickly get on board with wanting to be part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 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 employee understanding of Indigenous issues, 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 usually select 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 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 kind a working group that will oversee all the RAP process. This group will must be made up of assorted representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in charge of planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to consist of members who have some actual power to make modifications 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 clients or purchasers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
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