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 lots 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 government unveiled new Shut the Gap targets together with reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there may be one apparent solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their business plans. The purpose of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities on 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 4 maturity ranges that reflect the place organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They’re: Mirror, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate degree is for organisations that already understand where they will improve on Indigenous points and have begun taking motion to actively address them.
Step one for all organisations is to find out its maturity level. “Contact the RAP staff at Reconciliation Australia and find out which degree you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP group will send you a template that can define what it is advisable do. There are some basic obligatory 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 concerning the changes you can make.”
Because plenty of organisations will start on the Reflect stage, this guide will define the pillars you want to set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It will possibly help to look into why RAPs are so necessary as well as the present points going through Indigenous people. Reports reminiscent of Close the Hole can provide context to your RAP and may aid you with the next step.
Safe help
A part of a profitable RAP is establishing assist for reconciliation initiatives throughout your entire organisation. In most cases this needs to start on the top.
“Most often I discover that if individuals 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 meaningful change.”
Over 1,000 organisations have formalised RAPs, and their implementation has had a real impact on improving worker understanding of Indigenous points, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a circulation-on effect. It makes employees 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 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 type a working group that can oversee the whole RAP process. This group will need to be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is accountable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who have some precise 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 successful, you’ll need involvement from members who work with prospects or shoppers, so that individuals outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
