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 quite a lot of Australians to rethink the issues affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the rest 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 may be 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 support 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 four 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 example, the Innovate level is for organisations that already understand the place they can improve on Indigenous points and have begun taking action to actively address them.
Step one for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. “Contact the RAP group at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which stage you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP staff will send you a template that will define what you should do. There are some primary compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia akin to celebrating national Reconciliation Day and growing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the modifications you can make.”
Because loads of organisations will start on the Mirror stage, this guide will define the pillars you have to establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It may well help to look into why RAPs are so essential as well as the current issues dealing with Indigenous people. Reports resembling Close the Hole can provide context to your RAP and might aid you with the subsequent step.
Secure support
A part of a profitable RAP is establishing assist for reconciliation initiatives across your entire organisation. In most cases this must start at the top.
“Most often I discover that if persons are presented with the information, they stunning quickly get on board with wanting to be part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals 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 issues, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a stream-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 additionally solidifies your organisation’s commitment to making 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.
Set up a working group
The subsequent step is to type a working group that can oversee the entire RAP process. This group will should be made up of varied representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in control of planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to include members who’ve some precise 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 profitable, you’ll want involvement from members who work with clients or clients, so that people outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
