Our commitment to improve cultural capability and fostering an inclusive workplace

Inclusion and Diversity Strategy and Cultural Capability Action Plan 2018-2022

We are committed to leading and advocating for cultural diversity within the Queensland public sector. We are building cultural awareness, promoting culturally inclusive practices and working with stakeholders and communities to ensure our partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make a positive difference for all Queenslanders.

The Queensland Government has set public sector employment targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to 3% by 2022. Our Inclusion and Diversity Plan and Cultural Capability Action Plan (CCAP) provides the blueprint for us to achieve this diversity in our workforce.

The CCAP commits to actions across the following areas of focus:

valuing culture, leadership and accountability
building cultural capability to improve economic participation
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples engagement and partnerships
culturally responsive systems and services.

To help us achieve this we are receiving advice and input from our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, who form our Indigenous Employee Network, as well as guidance from our Diversity Council and the support of our Cultural Agency Leader.

Jody Brumby and Aimee Ballangarry members of the Indigenous Employee Network — Jody Brumby and Aimee Ballangarry, members of the Indigenous Employee Network (IEN), attending the 2017 IEN Forum

This plan builds on the achievements of our earlier action plans and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the Moving Ahead Strategy 2016–2022 vision, ‘Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people participate fully in Queensland’s growing economy through skills, training and employment and business growth and development'.

We finalised a new Inclusion and Diversity Plan 2021-2023 to replace the Inclusion and Diversity Strategy and Cultural Capability Action Plan 2018-2022.

Wil Ivinson—Director, Activity-based working (TMR) on Cultural Capability

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Video transcript

Well, I'm Wil Ivinson from Wakka Wakka Country, which is up around the Gayndah Region. And yeah I've been public servant for over 26 years. I've been in TMR for about 2 1/2 years now, almost 3.

Kinda complex question, this one a little bit.

There’s probably a whole range of aspects that need to be looked at in relation to recruitment of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people from not just the offerings that we have of entry pathways, which is just getting your foot in the door with traineeships, grads those sorts of things, but also how we provide an opportunity to engage and grow careers once they're here, but also, how do we get people into the front door that are at higher levels? And that's been a big challenge for the public sector across a number of years now.

So what we try and do with TMR at the moment is we've changed the way we worded a lot of our role descriptions, so using very neutral kind of language, simple language, simplistic forms for recruitment, and what that does is it actually tells people exactly what our job is about, what the job is going to do and that allows people out in the community to actual and go well whether or not I want to do that role.

Since I've come on board is we’ve redesigned cultural capability itself. So we're actually looking to engage more with traditional owners to provide the protocol training back to TMR staff. So as an example, we've taken, taken our graduates. We've taken senior leaders to Minjerribah or Stradbroke Island as people know it. They've gone out on country there with the elders and learnt not just about what the country shows, but about the impact of policy on people and how I suppose the historical impact of Queensland Government policy has impacted the local people there and if we can establish that across all regions within Queensland, so people are engaged with their local traditional owners and understanding the impacts of Government policy within that local area they themselves become better public servants because they understand the impacts.

There's a lot of avenues for people to be engaged in working in their own country, if you like so we obviously have a lot of infrastructure projects and a lot of people on the ground within those projects. So, our, I think the big thing here for us is how we influence our third-party contractors in that space. When we're partnering with big organisations to build the road somewhere or build a bridge somewhere, those sorts of things. Engaging and developing local capabilities and capacity for employment and long-term employment. So, we've got a real opportunity to influence that strongly.

Across the sector I think you’ll find a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't either the concepts and some of the issues were still talking about today in 2021 have been around since the 80s. If you like. Growing recruitment, growing career pathways, those sorts of things, breaking down systemic racism and within organisations. So those things are still there and there's still a challenge for particularly for First Nations people today as we walk between what we class as two worlds If you like. It's our own community and aboriginality or Torres Strait Islander nationality and the world of the public service and the government in general, and your expectations to deliver in that space.

Plus, the expectations that community put on you as a public servant so the challenges is always there and still there.

But we have made quite a bit of progress where people are a lot more open to growing their own cultural knowledge now. Particularly non-indigenous Australians. They want to know more, and you see that a lot within the younger generations coming through.

There's a level of understanding there that they need to know more. Need to know the history of this country and the history of our people, which is great. it's great to be able to share that have people keen to ask questions and keen to grow their knowledge and that's how we breakdown the silos and barriers through education.

There's a lot going on at the moment around constitutional recognition, sovereignty where that stands, Queensland Government has their own treaty process unpacking that and at the same time there's our Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Department is running their Local Thriving Communities program as well, which is about building up our remote regional community areas.

So, there's a lot of things happening that are converging all at once right now. I think where the Queensland Government sits is in a struggle space, but very unique space as well. And what I mean by struggle space is that.

We've got probably over 300 language groups across Queensland, and to establish a treaty in that space is going to take a lot of effort, but the positive is that there's people there willing to make that effort and push that agenda.

And how that is going to influence federally around constitutional recognition is one of those things that is yet to be seen but we're still pushing for it, you know. So, and when you compliment that with programs like Local Thriving Communities and the growth in those areas, if we can get those things right and we have the conversations happening with the right people then it puts us in a very strong position as a government.

'We are passionate about growing our cultural capability'