Reconciliation Action Plans are about taking good intent and turning it into action.
The Black Lives Matter protests that have erupted across the globe have caused lots of Australians to rethink the issues affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population are well known, however the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian government unveiled new Close the Hole targets together with reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there’s 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 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 four maturity ranges that reflect where 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 level is for organisations that already understand the place they’ll improve on Indigenous points and have begun taking action to actively address them.
The first step for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. “Contact the RAP team at Reconciliation Australia and find out which degree you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP crew will send you a template that will outline what you’ll want to do. There are some fundamental compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia reminiscent of celebrating national Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s in regards to the adjustments you may make.”
Because a lot of organisations will start at the Reflect stage, this guide will outline the pillars that you must set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It might probably assist to look into why RAPs are so vital as well as the current points facing Indigenous people. Reports resembling Shut the Gap can provide context to your RAP and may enable you with the following step.
Secure help
A part of a profitable RAP is establishing help for reconciliation initiatives across the complete organisation. In most cases this needs to start at the top.
“Most often I discover that if persons are presented with the info, 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 changing 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 flow-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 also 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 subsequent step is to kind a working group that may oversee the complete RAP process. This group will need to be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is answerable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who have some actual energy to make adjustments in the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and culture perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll want involvement from members who work with prospects or clients, so that individuals outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
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