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 quite a lot of Australians to rethink the issues affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the remainder of the population are well known, however 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 introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their business plans. The goal of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities in your organisation to actively support and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that may evolve as you and your organisation begin to take action.
RAPs are broken down into 4 maturity levels that mirror where organisations are of their reconciliation journey. They’re: Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For example, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand where they can 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 workforce at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which degree you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP crew will ship you a template that will define what you have to do. There are some basic obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia such as celebrating national Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s in regards to the changes you possibly can make.”
Because quite a lot of organisations will start on the Replicate stage, this guide will define the pillars you must establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is the place it all begins.
It could actually help to look into why RAPs are so vital as well as the current issues facing Indigenous people. Reports comparable to Close the Gap can provide context to your RAP and might provide help to with the next step.
Safe assist
Part of a successful RAP is establishing help for reconciliation initiatives throughout your entire organisation. In most cases this needs to start at the top.
“Most frequently I discover that if people 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 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 significant 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 circulation-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 also solidifies your organisation’s commitment to creating a culturally safe work setting, 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 kind a working group that may oversee your complete RAP process. This group will need to be made up of assorted representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in charge of planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to consist of members who have some actual energy to make modifications 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 customers or purchasers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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