Public Sector Commissioner, Sharyn O’Neill has identified more diversity and an inclusive workforce across the Western Australian public sector as the keys to improving PS productivity and innovation.
Commenting while introducing a new workforce diversification and inclusion strategy, Ms O’Neill said the strategy was linked to action plans for women, youth, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, people with disability and people of diverse sexualities and genders.
“The strategy and action plans position the sector to lead on diversity and inclusion,” Ms O’Neill said.
“This is vitally important for us to be a future-fit sector that delivers real value to the people of Western Australia.”
She said the initiative had been developed in consultation with more than 800 people from Government, industry and peak organisations.
“The strategy and plans include aspirational employment targets and practical actions for Agencies, with support from the Commission,” Ms O’Neill said.
“The twin goals of the strategy are to increase the representation of people from different backgrounds at all levels across the sector, and to ensure all staff in the sector experience a sense of belonging and inclusion in the work environment.”
She said there was a growing consensus internationally that pursuing diversity and inclusion in public sector workforces helped achieve important outcomes in major policy areas, advanced reform agendas and promoted good governance practices.
“Research shows that organisations which value diversity and inclusion achieve greater staff satisfaction, better customer service outcomes and improved decision-making and performance,” Ms ONeill said.
“This strategy and the six supporting action plans have been developed with input from Agencies of all shapes, sizes and contexts — and other stakeholder organisations and groups. Together, they set out a sector-wide approach to workforce diversification and inclusion.”
She said the reality was that representation of diverse groups in the public sector continued to be low compared to the wider community, particularly at senior levels.
“The strategy sets aspirational targets that are challenging but crucial to articulate and aim towards, offering each Agency in our sector the opportunity to become a leader in diversity and an inclusive employer,” the Commissioner said.
The PSC’s 9-page paper Workforce Diversification and Inclusion Strategy can be accessed at this PS News link.
