Diversity Council Australia defines workplace inclusiveness as an environment where diverse individuals are respected, connected and empowered to contribute to organisational success.
Public sector agencies can collect information about inclusiveness using:
- the ‘Safe to Share’ section in agency 2023 WA Public Sector Census Insights reports and ‘Response Rates’ section of agency diversity dashboards to provide insights into the confidence of staff to share their identities and workplace experiences (these are indicators of workplace trust and psychological safety which can be considered part of workplace inclusivity)
- surveys of workplace inclusiveness such as perception, culture, pulse and exit surveys
- other planned activities to improve workforce diversity in agency EEO management plans, disability access and inclusion plans, reconciliation actions plan and multicultural plans.
Example inclusiveness reporting statements
The following is an example of a statement that can be tailored to reflect the agency context and activities:
Our agency is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Research shows agencies that value diversity and inclusion achieve greater staff satisfaction, better customer service outcomes, and improved decision making and performance. The workforce is more connected, motivated and productive.
As part of the most recent WA Public Sector Census, our staff were asked about their diversity, whether they had shared this with our agency and, if not, the reason for not sharing. The confidence of staff to give voice to their identities, workplace experiences and concerns is an indication of the level of workplace trust, psychological safety and inclusion. Our results showed that:
[agencies to use information from their Agency Census Insights – ‘diversity’ and ‘safe to share’ sections, for example:]
- our staff have already shared their diversity information with our agency
- our agency is more diverse than previously thought based on information collected from staff when they commence
- a number of staff indicated they had not shared this information with our agency because [reason(s)]
- [for small agencies that do not receive breakdowns from the census because of identifiability:] A majority of staff shared their diversity information/some staff did not feel comfortable sharing their diversity information.]
Having analysed the results and insights provided, we have identified actions to improve diversity and inclusion in the year ahead including [list items from relevant plans such as census action plan, EEO management plan and workforce diversification and inclusion plans].
