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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 plenty 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 government unveiled new Close the Hole targets together with reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.

For organisations that feel the urgency act there is 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 enterprise plans. The intention of a RAP is to create significant opportunities to 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 levels that reflect the place organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They are: Replicate, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For example, the Innovate level is for organisations that already understand the place they will improve on Indigenous issues 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 discover out which level you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP workforce will send you a template that may outline what you should do. There are some primary obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia resembling celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s concerning the adjustments you’ll be able to make.”

Because lots of organisations will start at the Mirror stage, this guide will outline the pillars it’s essential to set up to start your reconciliation journey.

Research

This is where it all begins.

It may well assist to look into why RAPs are so vital as well as the current issues facing Indigenous people. Reports equivalent to Close the Hole can provide context to your RAP and would possibly make it easier to with the following step.

Safe help

Part of a successful RAP is establishing assist for reconciliation initiatives across all the organisation. In most cases this must start on the top.

“Most often I find that if individuals are presented with the information, they stunning quickly get on board with desirous to be a part of the reconciliation movement,”

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are three per cent of the population. They can’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 issues, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a flow-on effect. It makes staff more engaged with their community and they typically choose 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 setting, 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 subsequent step is to type a working group that will oversee all the RAP process. This group will need to be made up of assorted representatives from all sectors of your organisation.

The group is in command of planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who have some precise power to make changes within 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 customers or purchasers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.

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