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 number of Australians to rethink the problems 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 Shut the Gap targets including reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.

For organisations that really feel the urgency act there is 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 business plans. The goal of a RAP is to create significant opportunities on your organisation to actively support 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 reflect the place organisations are in their reconciliation journey. They are: Mirror, 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 can 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 staff at Reconciliation Australia and find out which degree you will start at,” says Anthony. “The RAP crew will ship you a template that will define what you might want to do. There are some fundamental obligatory actions required by Reconciliation Australia reminiscent of celebrating national Reconciliation Day and rising knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. After that, it’s in regards to the adjustments you’ll be able to make.”

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

Research

This is where it all begins.

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

Safe assist

Part of a successful RAP is establishing help for zarnesti01 reconciliation initiatives across the complete organisation. In most cases this needs to start at the top.

“Most frequently I discover that if people are presented with the info, they pretty quickly get on board with wanting to be part of the reconciliation movement,”

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals 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 significant 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 circulate-on effect. It makes workers more engaged with their community they usually 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 surroundings, 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 form a working group that can oversee the complete RAP process. This group will have to be made up of assorted representatives from all sectors of your organisation.

The group is accountable for planning and implementing the RAP, so it will need to include members who’ve some actual power to make modifications in the organisation, and members who understand it from a policy and culture perspective.

Lastly, for the RAP to be really profitable, you’ll want involvement from members who work with prospects or shoppers, so that people outside your organisation understand you are trying to make a difference.