The best way to create a Reconciliation Action Plan
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 problems affecting Indigenous communities.
The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the remainder of the population are well known, but the protests created new urgency to do something about them.
In July, the Australian government unveiled new Shut the Hole 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 incorporate strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their enterprise plans. The purpose 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 will evolve as you and your organisation start to take action.
RAPs are broken down into four maturity levels that replicate where organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They are: Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Each has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate level is for organisations that already understand where they can improve on Indigenous issues and have begun taking motion to actively address them.
The first step for all organisations is to find out its maturity level. “Contact the RAP crew at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which level you’ll start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP workforce will send you a template that will outline what you might want to do. There are some fundamental obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia comparable to celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and increasing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s about the changes you can make.”
Because lots of organisations will start on the Reflect stage, this guide will outline the pillars you have to establish to start your reconciliation journey.
Research
This is where it all begins.
It could actually assist to look into why RAPs are so important as well as the current points going through Indigenous people. Reports such as Shut the Hole can provide context to your RAP and might aid you with the following step.
Safe help
A part of a profitable RAP is establishing assist for reconciliation initiatives throughout the whole organisation. In most cases this needs to start at the top.
“Most often I discover that if people are presented with the info, they stunning quickly get on board with wanting to be a part of the reconciliation movement,”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are three per cent of the population. They will’t do the heavy lifting in terms of 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 worker understanding of Indigenous issues, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a stream-on effect. It makes workers more engaged with their community they usually often 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 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 form a working group that can oversee the entire RAP process. This group will need to be made up of varied representatives from all sectors of your organisation.
The group is in command of planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to consist of members who have some actual power to make modifications in the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and tradition perspective.
Lastly, for the RAP to be really profitable, you’ll need involvement from members who work with prospects or shoppers, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.
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