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 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 Gap targets together with reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that really feel the urgency act there is one apparent solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia launched RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their enterprise plans. The goal of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities on your organisation to actively help and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that can 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. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For example, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand the place they will improve on Indigenous points and have begun taking motion to actively address them.
The first step for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. “Contact the RAP crew at Reconciliation Australia and find out which level you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP crew will ship you a template that will define what you might want to do. There are some fundamental compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia reminiscent of celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and rising knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the changes you’ll be able to make.”
Because loads of organisations will start at the Reflect stage, this guide will outline the pillars it’s essential establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is the place it all begins.
It could actually assist to look into why RAPs are so vital as well as the current points facing Indigenous people. Reports reminiscent of Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and might enable you with the following step.
Safe help
Part of a profitable RAP is establishing support for reconciliation initiatives throughout the entire organisation. In most cases this needs to start at the top.
“Most often I find that if people are presented with the details, they beautiful quickly get on board with eager 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 altering 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 circulation-on effect. It makes staff more engaged with their community and they usually 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 surroundings, 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 form a working group that may oversee your complete RAP process. This group will must be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in command of planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to consist of members who’ve some precise energy to make adjustments 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 customers or shoppers, so that people outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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