Action card: Human resources teams

Provide opportunities for staff to share and update their diversity information.

How: Have your personnel systems (e.g. webkiosk, payroll and new starter kit) include questions that allow staff to voluntarily share their diversity information.

When commencing employment, ask staff to update their diversity information. Include this in your induction and on-boarding information.

Align reminders encouraging staff to update their information to diversity events such as NAIDOC Week. Reiterate that data is aggregated, anonymous, stored securely and is used to inform decisions that can have an impact on all groups – so the better the data, the better the decisions.

Why: People are more trusting when they are certain that information they provide is confidential and secure. Confidence is greater when data is entered electronically rather than manually from a hard-copy form. Agencies can make more informed decisions about their staff or for the communities they serve when they have a full picture of the composition of their workforce. Collecting this data is vital.

Review and promote your complaints management policy and procedures (including grievances, bullying and harassment).

How: Include an agency position statement that clearly communicates that all complaints (including bullying, discrimination and harassment) are dealt with seriously, fairly and confidentially.

Reinforce zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment, and provide a complaints pathway for staff to feel confident in raising issues.

Why: Showing complainants that their issues are being dealt with in a timely, appropriate and sensitive manner builds trust that the agency is taking complaints seriously. Including a position statement makes an agency's commitment clear and accountable.

Include questions in surveys relating to personal experiences and perceptions of workplace harassment, bullying and discrimination.

How: Ask staff about their personal experiences and perceptions of workplace harassment, bullying and discrimination. By repeating the question in subsequent surveys, changes over time can be identified.

Why: This provides the agency with metrics around possible hotspots and/or areas of concern. Take into consideration that increased disclosure over time may not indicate a worsening issue but that staff have more confidence in reporting it.

Use inclusive language and remove the potential for unconscious bias in human resources policies, plans, surveys and practices.

How: Partner with diversity and inclusion specialists, or establish reference groups which include members with lived experience, to co-design policies and practices or act as a consultation groups to provide input and feedback.

Provide access to diversity and inclusion training.

How: Understand your agency’s diversity and inclusion needs for training and development. There is free online cultural competency training at omi.wa.gov.au and free online Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural awareness at wa.gov.au. 

Why: Educational opportunities provide all staff with consistent information. Education can also be a springboard for further training, discussions and related events. Training uptake can be measured as part of key performance indicators and assessed against actions for agencies in the Workforce Diversification and Inclusion Strategy.

Use public sector workforce and community representation data on diversity to set agency targets, monitor agency performance, and inform recruitment and workforce planning.

How: Assess data from a variety of sources such as the Human Resource Minimum Obligatory Information Requirements (HR MOIR) submitted quarterly to the Public Sector Commission, diversity dashboard provided quarterly to your agency by the Commission, and internal agency surveys to monitor progress against agency and whole of sector targets. 

Use exceptions in the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to recruit for diversity.

Identify areas that require further work and celebrate goals when they are reached.

Why: Agency data helps to track progress against targets and align strategies to address areas of concern. Using the exceptions in the EO Act to recruit for diversity shows how you are addressing priority areas. Having quantifiable data aids effective evaluation and reprioritisation strategies.