Page 2440 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2022
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higher than the result returned by those born in an English-speaking country, including Australia.
These results demonstrate the commitment of the ACT government to ensure that Canberra is a welcoming and vibrant city, shaped by the cultural diversity of those who live here. But, of course, there is more that we can do, and I think that is something that has been reflected across the chamber today.
Mr Braddock’s motion references the announcement by the Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Andrew Giles MP on the development of the national standards for diversity data collection, supported by the establishment of a working group representing peak multicultural bodies and experts in the field.
In my recent letter welcoming Minister Giles, I applauded this announcement and recognised the important value that a national working group and national standard for CALD data collection would bring to the work of our ACT government, including any proposals to collect racial and ethnic information. A national standard for the collection of culturally and linguistically diverse data will be invaluable to understanding our current position and supporting effective policy design, resource allocation and program delivery into the future.
As this nationwide work begins, here in the ACT government we will continue to implement recruitment and employment practices that promote the inclusion of CALD people. Over the next four years $3.3 million in funding will be provided to strengthen and expand diversity and inclusion programs within the ACT public service.
Among these new programs will be a dedicated mentorship program for aspiring senior executives from CALD backgrounds. The Community Services Directorate operates the Work Experience and Support Program, the WESP, providing professionals who have recently arrived in Australia from overseas with the opportunity to gain Australian workplace experience, especially CALD community members who might have had difficulty gaining meaningful employment. Importantly, WESP supports participants to gain the confidence to enter the paid workforce and develop important networks within the ACT public service.
As a result of the extensive review of the Respect, Equity, and Diversity Framework, the ACT public service will also strengthen workforce diversity outcomes, including through improvements in evaluation and measurement of actions designed to address inclusion barriers. The ACT public service has recently committed to improving the collection, discoverability and sharing of diversity data in line with the Australian Bureau of Statistics standards, as part of outcomes from the Beyond RED review.
The project will encompass reforms to diversity data collection for the ACT public service workforce, and work is underway to understand appropriate data variables and the complex implementation pathway for ACT government workforce data systems. A broader strategic base, which encompasses multicultural elements of workforce diversity, will also be a focus in the future. There is a lot of work going on in
these areas.
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