I am pleased to deliver our first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF).

At DTF, we value the diverse experiences and talents of our people and want them to feel a sense of belonging in the workplace, irrespective of their culture, background or difference. We believe our diversity is an asset and makes us better, enhancing our ability to understand and meet the needs of our community and helping us to take into account different perspectives and lived experiences.

This Strategy builds on our past achievements and provides a framework to create positive outcomes for our diverse people across the department, ensuring our actions are effective and sustained over the long term.

Through this Strategy we will prioritise equitable and inclusive outcomes for our people and increase the representation of currently underrepresented groups. We will build our culture and reputation as an employer that attracts, develops, retains and fully engages diverse talent across the department.

To create an inclusive culture we require commitment from everyone to actively embrace individual differences in all its forms.

This Strategy demonstrates our commitment to an inclusive workplace that reflects the South Australian community that we serve. I look forward to your support in implementing our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

David Reynolds
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

A diverse, inclusive and safe workplace where everyone belongs.

Why is this strategy important?

This strategy is important because it highlights our people as the strength of the department—without our people we are unable to achieve our goals.  We know that fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace helps our people to sustain a sense of belonging and experience even higher levels of engagement, productivity and performance.

We also know that in order to provide the best services possible, our workforce must reflect the diverse communities we serve, not only in terms of attributes such as age, gender, culture, religious beliefs and sexual orientation but also in the way we think and behave.

How does this strategy align with SA Public Sector diversity goals?

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy is aligned to the principles and focus areas of the South Australian Public Sector Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.  Our Strategy provides an overarching framework to guide initiatives in each focus area, including our commitments and actions in other DTF plans (see below).

The following principles support our vision and are aligned to the Public Sector Values and the principles of Employer of Choice, Ethical Behaviour and Professional Integrity as set out in the Public Sector Act 2009:

• Foster a culture of support, belonging, meaningful engagement and wellbeing for all employees
• Value difference, and respect and value every individual for the diversity of skills and experiences that they bring to the public sector
• Aim to be an employer of choice with the best people attracted, recruited, developed and retained in the public sector
• Treat each other respectfully, fairly, justly, reasonably and equitably without discrimination
• Hold each other accountable for enabling inclusive practices and cultures.

To realise our vision and achieve sustainable cultural change will require active participation and leadership by all. It is essential that we hold ourselves and each other to account for modelling behaviours that support diversity, inclusion and respect in the workplace. We all have a role to play.

• We commit to building on our diverse, inclusive and respectful department, where all employees have equal access to opportunities for professional development and career progression.
• We commit to enabling our leaders to model practices and behaviour that support diversity and inclusion.
• We commit to demonstrating diversity and inclusion in the way we engage and communicate with one another.
• We commit to educating and supporting all employees to achieve sustainable culture change.
• We commit to supporting our staff to work flexibly wherever practical having regard to work and personal responsibilities.
• We commit to creating a workplace free from bias where all employees feel valued and safe to speak up and take action on inappropriate behaviour.

We acknowledge our current and future employees may identify across a number of diversity groups and that these groups may require support in order to be able to reach their full potential.

This strategy has six key focus areas.  This approach allows for a range of coordinated and overarching actions that support the enhancement of our inclusive culture, policy and behaviour changes to best support diversity and inclusion. Each of the six focus areas (outlined below) will have commitments to action, some of which include existing plans, others are outlined in this document.  Where there is an existing plan it will be updated upon its expiry.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Disability access and inclusion
• Gender Equality and respect
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) people
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersexual, Questioning (LGBTIQ+) people
• Age

The following table reflects the diversity profile of our workforce as at September 2020:

Objective

DTF highly values the contributions, cultural knowledge and diversity that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people bring to our workforce. We continually strive to be a culturally responsive workplace that is committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

Our objective is to become an employer of choice by providing equitable access to employment opportunities as well as ongoing development assistance to increase the capabilities, development and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

How we will achieve this

Through the achievement of actions outlined in the Reconciliation Action Plan, DTF will achieve the above objective.

• DTF Reconciliation Action Plan

Objective

We recognise that people with a disability make a valuable contribution to our workforce and community. Our objective is to become an employer who is known for attracting and retaining people living with a disability and to create an environment where people living with a disability receive appropriate support.

In line with the DTF Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, outcomes will be driven by developing a culture of acceptance and respect; providing access to career development opportunities; providing effective access to our premises and information; and seeking to attract and retain a diverse workforce which is more representative of the community we serve.

How we will achieve this

Through the achievement of actions outlined in the Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, DTF will achieve the above objective.

• DTF Disability Access and Inclusion Plan

Objective

Our objective is to further enhance and showcase our culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people to highlight the richness that diversity brings to our workplace. We embrace different perspectives and experiences that our culturally and linguistically diverse people bring and recognise the importance of building culturally appropriate services for the South Australian community.

How we will achieve this

These objectives will be achieved by the following actions:

Objective

Our objective is to create a workplace, which is fair, safe, and inclusive of all people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We aim to foster a workplace environment and culture where all employees can bring their whole self to work without the need to edit behaviour and without fear of bias or intimidation.

How we will achieve this

Objective

Our objective is to support our people through their career path irrespective of where they are on the age spectrum.  Negative stereotypes about people’s abilities to undertake tasks can apply to young and older people. We will support mature age workers through targeted strategies to build an environment where assumptions are not made about their work life intentions, and they are fully supported in achieving their goals. We will also provide support for our younger employees by providing them with opportunities for continuous learning that helps them to realise their full potential.

How we will achieve this

The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) Committee is directly responsible for monitoring and reporting on the progress of this plan. Progress, outcomes and achievements will be provided to the Executive Leadership Group on an annual basis. The Strategy is intended to be a living document and will be subject to annual reviews and renewal so that it continues to reflect the changing needs of our diverse workforce.

Definitions

Equality - Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents. It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life chances because of the way they were born, where they come from, what they believe, or whether they have a disability.¹

Equity - Equity is about making sure that everybody has what they need to improve the quality of their individual situation. It recognises that people’s contexts are different and some people may need more support to achieve the same objective as everyone else. This is because they are not starting from the same position to begin with, and/or are faced with additional barriers.²

Inclusion - An inclusive workplace is one where all employees feel valued and respected and are recognised for their abilities, unique qualities and perspectives. Inclusivity is about providing equal opportunity to all employees regardless of their differences. It involves removing barriers to ensure everyone can take part and access opportunities to contribute in achieving organisational outcomes. Inclusiveness allows an organisation to enjoy and leverage the diversity of its employees to achieve better results.³

Diversity - Diversity recognises the ways we differ. It is not only our different ethnicities, genders, sexualities, abilities and cultures. It also includes perspectives, social and economic backgrounds, life experiences and all other aspects that make each of us unique. Diversity can be inherent and acquired.⁴

CALD - Culturally and Linguistically Diverse is a broad term used to describe people and communities with diverse languages, ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, traditions, societal structures and religions.⁵

LGBTIQ+ - LGBTIQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersexual, Queer or Questioning and refers to the diverse sex, sexual orientation and gender identities represented in the community. LGBTIQ+ is used in an effort to be as inclusive as possible, though it is recognised there are many more terms that may describe other genders and sexualities in our diverse communities.⁶

[1] https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/secondary-education-resources/useful-information/understanding-equality

[2] https://www.cancerwa.asn.au/articles/news-2017/equality-vs-equity-working-towards-making-smoking-/

[3] Australian Government: Treasury Inclusion and Diversity Strategy 2019-21

[4] Australian Government: Treasury Inclusion and Diversity Strategy 2019-21

[5] Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria 2012, ECCV Glossary of Terms

[6] https://www.vic.gov.au/inclusive-language-guide