Reconciliation Action Plans are about taking good intent and turning it into action.
The Black Lives Matter protests that have erupted throughout the globe have caused a variety 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, but the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian authorities unveiled new Shut the Gap targets including reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that really 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 include strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their business plans. The intention of a RAP is to create meaningful 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 levels that reflect 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 motion 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 stage you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP group will ship you a template that may outline what you have to do. There are some fundamental compulsory 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 in regards to the modifications you can make.”
Because lots of organisations will start on the Replicate stage, this guide will outline the pillars you’ll 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 important as well as the current points facing Indigenous people. Reports corresponding to Close the Gap can provide context to your RAP and would possibly allow you to with the following step.
Safe help
Part of a profitable RAP is establishing support for reconciliation initiatives across the entire organisation. In most cases this needs to start at the top.
“Most frequently I discover that if persons are offered with the information, they pretty 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 can’t do the heavy lifting when it comes to 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 employee understanding of Indigenous points, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a movement-on effect. It makes workers more engaged with their community and so they usually 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 setting, 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 next step is to type a working group that can oversee your complete RAP process. This group will need to be made up of assorted representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in control of planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to consist of members who’ve some actual energy 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 need involvement from members who work with customers or clients, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
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