Learn 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 that have erupted throughout the globe have caused a whole lot of Australians to rethink the issues affecting Indigenous communities.

The health, wealth and employment gaps between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population are well known, however the protests created new urgency to do something about them.

In July, the Australian government unveiled new Close the Hole targets including 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 introduced RAPs as a way for organisations to include strategic reconciliation initiatives as part of their enterprise plans. The goal of a RAP is to create meaningful opportunities on your organisation to actively assist and recognise Indigenous Australians. Like many initiatives, reconciliation is a process that may 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're: Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate. Every has a corresponding RAP type organisations can pursue. For example, the Innovate degree is for organisations that already understand the place they'll improve on Indigenous points and have begun taking action to actively address them.

The first step for all organisations is to determine its maturity level. "Contact the RAP group at Reconciliation Australia and discover out which stage you will start at," says Anthony. "The RAP group will ship you a template that will define what it's good to do. There are some basic obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia corresponding to celebrating nationwide Reconciliation Day and rising knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s in regards to the modifications you possibly can make."

Because a number of organisations will start at the Reflect stage, this guide will outline the pillars you have to establish to start your reconciliation journey.

Research

This is the place it all begins.

It might assist to look into why RAPs are so necessary as well as the current points facing Indigenous people. Reports resembling Close the Gap can provide context to your RAP and may help you with the next step.

Safe support

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

"Most frequently I find that if people are presented with the facts, they beautiful quickly get on board with desirous to be 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 by way of 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 worker understanding of Indigenous issues, the Reconciliation Australia 2018 RAP Impact report found. This can have a circulate-on effect. It makes employees more engaged with their community and they usually 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.

Establish a working group

The following step is to kind a working group that will oversee the whole RAP process. This group will need to be made up of various representatives from all sectors of your organisation.

The group is in control of planning and implementing the RAP, so it might want to include members who have some actual power to make adjustments within 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 prospects or clients, so that folks outside your organisation understand you are attempting to make a difference.

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