Our approach
How we work
Reconciliation work fails in predictable ways: vague commitments, engagement treated as a formality, and evidence nobody captured. Our process is built around avoiding those specific failures.
Principles
What guides the work
Indigenous-led, not Indigenous-consulted
Cultural guidance comes from lived experience rather than desk research. That changes what gets recommended, what gets challenged, and what we will tell you is not a good idea.
Relationships, not consultations
Community engagement is not a box to be completed before drafting begins. We help you build relationships that continue after we leave, because that is what your commitments will depend on.
Specific over aspirational
A commitment without an owner, a deliverable and a date is a sentence, not an action. We push for specificity even when general language would be easier to agree on internally.
Evidence from day one
We set up how progress will be captured before delivery starts. Organisations that leave this until reporting is due almost always find the evidence was never collected.
Honest about what is achievable
If your organisation is not ready for the RAP type it wants, we will say so. Over-committing damages credibility with staff and community far more than starting at the right level.
Built to outlast us
The goal is capability inside your organisation, not dependence on ours. Governance, ownership and process are designed so the work continues when the engagement ends.
The process
From first conversation to endorsed plan
- 1
Discovery call
A conversation about where your organisation is, what has prompted this, and what you are hoping to achieve. We will give you an honest view on which RAP type fits and roughly what it would involve. No cost, no obligation.
- 2
Scoping and proposal
We set out scope, deliverables, timeline and cost in writing so there are no surprises. If the honest answer is that you need something smaller — or something other than a RAP — we will tell you that here.
- 3
Discovery and stakeholder mapping
We work out how your organisation genuinely operates and where it actually has influence, and identify the internal and external stakeholders the plan will need behind it.
- 4
Engagement and facilitation
Respectful engagement with Traditional Owners and relevant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, alongside internal workshops that bring your people into the plan rather than presenting it to them.
- 5
Drafting and internal review
We draft commitments with owners, deliverables, timeframes and measures, then test them with the people who will have to deliver them. This is deliberately iterative — the first draft is never the one that gets submitted.
- 6
Submission and endorsement
We review against what Reconciliation Australia expects, close gaps before submission, and support you through endorsement and any feedback that comes back.
- 7
Implementation and review
Optional ongoing support: keeping delivery on track, making sure evidence is captured as you go, and preparing you for renewal well before it is due.
What we ask of you
The engagements that go well have a few things in common, and they are worth being upfront about. None of these require a large team — but without them, a RAP tends to become a document rather than a plan.
- An executive sponsor with the authority to unblock things
- A working group that can meet regularly and make decisions
- Honesty about what has and has not worked previously
- Willingness to commit to fewer, more specific actions rather than many general ones
- Realistic internal resourcing to deliver what gets committed to
Every engagement
What's always included
Indigenous-led delivery
The people guiding your plan are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners.
A named point of contact
One person who knows your organisation, throughout the engagement.
Progress tracking
Clear reporting on where the work is up to, not just at milestones.
Post-engagement support
We stay reachable after handover — questions come up, and that is normal.
Start with a conversation
A free discovery call will tell you which RAP type fits your organisation, roughly what it would involve, and whether we're the right fit to help.