Find out how to create a Reconciliation Action Plan

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 issues 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 Close 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 a part of their enterprise plans. The goal of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities to your organisation to actively help and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that will evolve as you and your organisation begin to take action.

RAPs are broken down into 4 maturity levels that mirror the place organisations are of their reconciliation journey. They're: Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For instance, the Innovate degree is for organisations that already understand where they'll 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 group at Reconciliation Australia and find out which degree you'll start at," says Anthony. "The RAP crew will ship you a template that can outline what it is advisable do. There are some primary obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia reminiscent of celebrating national Reconciliation Day and growing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s in regards to the changes you can make."

Because lots of organisations will start at the Replicate stage, this guide will define the pillars that you must establish to start your reconciliation journey.

Research

This is the place it all begins.

It might probably assist to look into why RAPs are so important as well as the present issues going through Indigenous people. Reports akin to Close the Hole can provide context to your RAP and might enable you with the next step.

Safe help

A part of a profitable RAP is establishing support for reconciliation initiatives throughout your entire organisation. In most cases this must start at the top.

"Most often I find that if individuals are introduced with the details, they stunning quickly get on board with desirous 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 in terms of 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 worker understanding of Indigenous issues, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a circulate-on effect. It makes workers more engaged with their community and so they typically choose to donate to, or volunteer with, Indigenous organisations as a result.

A RAP also 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.

Establish a working group

The subsequent step is to kind a working group that can oversee the entire RAP process. This group will have to be made up of varied representatives from all sectors of your organisation.

The group is in charge of planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who have some actual energy to make changes in the organisation, and members who understand it from a coverage and tradition perspective.

Lastly, for the RAP to be really successful, you’ll need involvement from members who work with prospects or shoppers, so that individuals outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.

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