Reconciliation Action Plans are about taking good intent and turning it into action.
The Black Lives Matter protests that have erupted across the globe have caused loads 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 Close the Gap targets together with reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
For organisations that feel the urgency act there’s one apparent solution – a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
In 2006, Reconciliation Australia launched RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as a part of their enterprise plans. The purpose of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities for your organisation to actively assist and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that will evolve as you and your organisation start to take action.
RAPs are broken down into four maturity ranges that replicate the place organisations are of their reconciliation journey. They are: Mirror, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate stage is for organisations that already understand the place they can improve on Indigenous issues and have begun taking action to actively address them.
Step one for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. “Contact the RAP group at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which stage you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP crew will send you a template that will define what you want to do. There are some fundamental obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia equivalent to celebrating national Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the adjustments you may make.”
Because a lot of organisations will start at the Replicate stage, this guide will outline the pillars you want to set up to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It could possibly help to look into why RAPs are so essential as well as the present issues facing Indigenous people. Reports such as Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and may aid you with the next step.
Safe support
Part of a profitable RAP is establishing help for reconciliation initiatives throughout the complete organisation. In most cases this must start on the top.
“Most frequently I discover that if persons are introduced with the information, they beautiful quickly get on board with eager to be part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals 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 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 employees more engaged with their community and so they often choose 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 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 following step is to type a working group that may oversee the entire RAP process. This group will have to be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is answerable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who’ve some precise power to make changes in the organisation, and members who understand it from a policy and culture perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll need involvement from members who work with customers or shoppers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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