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 a whole lot of Australians to rethink the issues affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the remainder 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 may be one obvious solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their enterprise plans. The goal of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities on your organisation to actively support 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 4 maturity ranges that reflect where organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They’re: Replicate, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For example, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand the place they will 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 find out which degree you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP group will ship you a template that will outline what you’ll want to do. There are some basic obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia resembling celebrating national Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s in regards to the modifications you may make.”
Because a lot of organisations will start at the Mirror stage, this guide will define the pillars you must set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It could possibly assist to look into why RAPs are so necessary as well as the current issues facing Indigenous people. Reports comparable to Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and would possibly show you how to with the subsequent step.
Secure assist
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 discover that if individuals are introduced with the details, they stunning quickly get on board with desirous to be part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons are three per cent of the population. They’ll’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 employee understanding of Indigenous issues, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a movement-on effect. It makes employees more engaged with their community and so they typically select to donate to, or volunteer with, Indigenous organisations as a result.
A RAP additionally solidifies your organisation’s commitment to creating 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.
Set up a working group
The next step is to kind 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 control of planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to include members who’ve some actual energy to make adjustments within the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and culture perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really profitable, you’ll need involvement from members who work with prospects or purchasers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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