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 a whole 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 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 incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their business plans. The goal of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities to your organisation to actively support 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 replicate where organisations are in 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.
Step one for all organisations is to find out its maturity level. “Contact the RAP group at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which degree you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP crew will ship you a template that will outline what you should do. There are some fundamental compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia reminiscent of celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s about the adjustments you’ll be able to make.”
Because plenty of organisations will start at the Reflect stage, this guide will outline the pillars it’s worthwhile to establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is the place it all begins.
It may help to look into why RAPs are so vital as well as the current issues going through Indigenous people. Reports equivalent to Shut the Gap can provide context to your RAP and would possibly allow you to with the next step.
Secure support
Part of a successful RAP is establishing support for reconciliation initiatives throughout your complete organisation. In most cases this must start on the top.
“Most often I discover that if people are presented with the info, they stunning quickly get on board with eager to be a part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals are three per cent of the population. They will’t do the heavy lifting in terms of 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 points, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a flow-on effect. It makes workers more engaged with their community and so they often 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 environment, 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 may oversee your entire RAP process. This group will need to be made up of varied representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is accountable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to encompass members who’ve some actual power to make adjustments in the organisation, and members who understand it from a policy 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 attempting to make a difference.
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