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Building an Indigenous Employment Strategy kit
In August 2005 the Government introduced the APS Employment and Capability Strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees (the APS Strategy). Implemented by the Commission, the APS Strategy has played a central role in stabilising the decline in the employment of Indigenous people in the Australian Public Service (APS).
At the same time, an evaluation of the APS Strategy has confirmed the importance of agencies taking their own steps, and recommended that the Commission provide more support in the development and implementation of agency-based Indigenous employment strategies.
Building on these outcomes, improving the representation of Indigenous Australians in the APS, will need the involvement of us all. We have multiple challenges to face:
- playing our part to support the resolution of the Council of Australian Governments to 'close the gap' in the participation of Indigenous Australians in paid employment
- improving the distribution of existing Indigenous members of the APS so that they are found in more varied roles in a greater number of agencies at a greater number of classifications, and
- supporting workplace cultures that, giving practical life to the APS Values, are free from discrimination, and recognise and utilise the diversity of the Australian community.
While the number of agencies that have their own agency strategy is increasing gradually, the 2006-07 State of the Service Report confirms that this is still the minority and that we have plenty of room to improve our performance on this issue.
Each agency has an important part to play, its own challenges, and its own opportunities to make a contribution. Presented in a menu of initiatives and actions drawn from a range of existing employment strategies, this Kit is intended to provide a starting point for identifying agency-specific business needs and objectives, and some actions that can be taken to achieve your goals.
In addition to building this Kit, the Commission can provide agencies with continuing support as they work through the development of their own strategy. For further information about this, please contact us at IndigenousLiaisonOfficer@apsc.gov.au.
Lynelle
Briggs
Australian
Public Service Commissioner
August 2008
Purpose of the Kit
The Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission) has developed the Building an Indigenous Employment Strategy – a starter kit for APS agencies (the Kit) to help human resource practitioners build their agency's Indigenous employment strategy (IES) as a structured, systematic approach to attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing Indigenous employees (see The Background for more information about the function of IES).
The Kit is intended to provide ideas about how you can create and implement an IES.
Structure and content of the Kit
The Kit has been developed by drawing together good practice in public and private sector Indigenous employment strategies. It is based on the current APS Employment and Capability Strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and consists of five separate but linked parts in addition to this How to use the Kit leaflet:
Background paper
The background paper provides:
- context and information to help you develop and implement your agency's own Indigenous employment strategy
- a summary of the three focus areas covered by the initiatives proposed in the Kit
Initiatives
The Kit includes a collection of initiatives that could be included in your Indigenous employment strategy. It is not intended to be a complete list, nor are you expected to include every initiative offered here, but this material will give you some idea of where to start. Please modify the initiatives or develop others as you see fit to ensure they meet your agency's business needs.
The initiatives are grouped into the three major themes that are likely to form the basis of any IES:
- workplace environment
- recruitment
- retention
The material also gives examples of outcomes you could expect as a result of implementing each initiative.
'Menu' for an Indigenous employment strategy
The 'menu' summarises examples of actions that are explored in more detail in the initiatives collection referred to above, and which are already being used by some APS agencies. It includes performance indicators, time frames for achieving goals, and who is responsible for ensuring initiatives are implemented
The 'menu' is not meant to be prescriptive or a 'one size fits all' framework. Rather, it is intended to be used as a tool in creating your own IES. Choose the activities that best suit your agency's needs.
List of other useful resources
The Kit is one tool that will help you to develop your agency's IES, but there are many other resources. The list of resources included in this Kit is not exhaustive, but it should make your search for additional information easier.
The APS Employment and Capability Strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (the APS Strategy)
The Kit also includes summary of the key elements and initiatives of the APS Strategy and a complete copy of the APS Strategy as an appendix.
Getting started—planning your IES
It's important to be clear about the rationale for the IES and what it aims to achieve. A good way to do this is to draw up a business case for the IES to identify its objectives. You could include links between the IES and the:
- agency Reconciliation Action Plan
- agency workplace diversity plan
- agency business/corporate objectives
- requirements of your agency as an APS agency
These elements help map where you are and where you need to go, and they communicate that position and direction clearly to management and employees.
As part of your associated project plan, you could include:
- an assessment of the agency's business needs
- who the agency's stakeholders are
- what the cost are for developing and implementing an IES, as well as what the cost could be for your agency if it did not do so.
- timelines for both the development of the IES and its implementation
A solid and extensive plan will help keep you on track and others in your agency informed.
Finally, if you're looking for further advice on an issue, if you've come across a good idea that you'd like to share, or if you'd like to contribute something about your own agency's experience to this Kit, please contact the Commission's Indigenous Liaison Officer at IndigenousLiaisonOfficer@apsc.gov.au or by phone on (02) 6202 3593.
