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 lots of Australians to rethink the problems affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the remainder of the population are well known, but the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian government unveiled new Close the Gap 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 include strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their business plans. The aim 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 can evolve as you and your organisation start to take action.
RAPs are broken down into four maturity ranges that mirror where organisations are of their reconciliation journey. They’re: Replicate, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every 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 action to actively address them.
Step one for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. “Contact the RAP workforce at Reconciliation Australia and find out which stage you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP workforce will ship you a template that can define what you have to do. There are some fundamental obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia akin to celebrating national Reconciliation Day and rising knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the adjustments you’ll be able to make.”
Because lots of organisations will start at the Mirror stage, this guide will outline the pillars that you must establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is the place it all begins.
It may possibly help to look into why RAPs are so essential as well as the current points going through Indigenous people. Reports such as Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and would possibly make it easier to with the subsequent step.
Safe assist
A part of a profitable RAP is establishing help for reconciliation initiatives across your entire organisation. In most cases this needs to start on the top.
“Most often I find that if persons are offered with the facts, 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 by way of 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 movement-on effect. It makes staff more engaged with their community they usually often 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 setting, 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 form a working group that can oversee all the RAP process. This group will must be made up of assorted representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is accountable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to include members who have some actual power to make modifications within the organisation, and members who understand it from a policy and tradition perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll want involvement from members who work with prospects or purchasers, so that individuals outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
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