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 remainder of the population are well known, however the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian authorities unveiled new Shut the Hole targets including reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there may be one obvious solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia launched RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their enterprise plans. The goal of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities for your organisation to actively help and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that can evolve as you and your organisation begin to take action.
RAPs are broken down into four maturity ranges that mirror the place organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They’re: Replicate, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For example, the Innovate degree is for organisations that already understand where they’ll improve on Indigenous issues and have begun taking motion to actively address them.
The first step for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. “Contact the RAP group at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which degree you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP group will send you a template that will define what you want to do. There are some basic obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia reminiscent of celebrating national Reconciliation Day and rising knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s about the modifications you may make.”
Because plenty of organisations will start at the Replicate stage, this guide will outline the pillars it is advisable establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It will possibly assist to look into why RAPs are so important as well as the current issues going through Indigenous people. Reports akin to Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and might enable you with the following step.
Safe assist
Part of a successful RAP is establishing assist for reconciliation initiatives across the entire organisation. In most cases this must start at the top.
“Most frequently I discover that if people are presented with the information, they pretty quickly get on board with desirous to be a part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons are three per cent of the population. They can’t do the heavy lifting in terms of 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 so they usually select to donate to, or volunteer with, Indigenous organisations as a result.
A RAP also solidifies your organisation’s commitment to making 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 kind a working group that can oversee your complete RAP process. This group will have to be made up of varied representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in command of planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to consist of members who have some actual power to make changes in the organisation, and members who understand it from a policy and tradition perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really profitable, you’ll need involvement from members who work with customers or purchasers, so that individuals outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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