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 a lot of Australians to rethink the problems 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 Hole targets including 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 incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their business plans. The intention of a RAP is to create significant opportunities in your organisation to actively assist and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that will evolve as you and your organisation begin to take action.
RAPs are broken down into 4 maturity ranges that mirror where organisations are of their reconciliation journey. They are: Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every 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 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 discover out which level you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP staff will ship you a template that will outline what it’s good to do. There are some basic compulsory actions required by Reconciliation Australia similar to celebrating national Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the modifications you’ll be able to make.”
Because a lot of organisations will start at the Reflect stage, this guide will define the pillars you need to set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is the place it all begins.
It might assist to look into why RAPs are so important as well as the current points dealing with Indigenous people. Reports such as Close the Hole can provide context to your RAP and would possibly help you with the subsequent step.
Safe help
A part of a profitable RAP is establishing support for reconciliation initiatives across your entire organisation. In most cases this needs to start at the top.
“Most frequently I find that if people are presented with the info, they beautiful quickly get on board with wanting to be a part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons 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 circulate-on effect. It makes workers more engaged with their community they usually typically select to donate to, or volunteer with, Indigenous organisations as a result.
A RAP additionally solidifies your organisation’s commitment to making a culturally safe work atmosphere, 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 may oversee the whole RAP process. This group will should be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in charge of planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to encompass members who’ve some precise energy to make changes within the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and culture perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll need involvement from members who work with clients or shoppers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.
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