Annual Report 2003-04

Workplace Equity and Diversity

Overview

Defence has been recognised for its efforts as it continues to implement the Defence Workplace Equity and Diversity Plan 2003-2005. In November 2003, Defence was presented with the runner-up award in the open category of the Australian Public Service Diversity Awards for its program 'Creating a Bully-free Workplace'.

Activities organised to celebrate the diversity of the Defence workforce were well attended. During National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee Week, Defence conducted a memorial service in commemoration of Australia's indigenous Servicemen and women. The International Day of People with a DisAbility was celebrated in December 2003. In March 2004, Harmony Day and International Women's Day were celebrated.

Diversity

Although Defence is not representative of Australia's multicultural society with only around 5 per cent of ADF members and 14 per cent of Defence APS employees identifying themselves as being from a non-English speaking background, Defence values the principle of inclusiveness and views a multicultural workforce as unifying. The diversity profile displayed in the table below has been obtained through voluntary disclosure by personnel on joining Defence. The profile includes non-English speaking background (NESB), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) and people with a disability (PWD).

Notes

1. Figures for the Navy, the Army and the Air Force include full-time personnel and Reservists on continuous full-time service.
2. A non-English speaking background includes any person who indicated that either one or both parents was from a non-English speaking background or spoke English and another language at home.
3. People with a disability include people with an identified physical or mental disability (including chronic ailments or conditions such as diabetes) .

The Defence Equity Organisation developed the Defence Guide to Managing Diversity in the Workplace during 2003-04. It encourages commanders and managers to enhance productive diversity in Defence.

The Equity Adviser Network grew during 2003-04, with 1,135 new Equity Advisers trained to provide advice and assistance to Defence personnel. The Defence equity advice lines received 1,046 calls and continued to provide information and options to personnel involved in incidents of unacceptable behaviour.

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Indigenous Australians

The mentoring and peer-support program piloted last year was successful in achieving retention and development outcomes for Defence's indigenous APS employees. A contract to continue with this program for a further 12 months has been signed. The program incorporates indigenous cultural awareness training and targets mentors, supervisors and work colleagues of indigenous Defence APS employees.

Defence continued its participation in the National Indigenous Cadetship Project during 2003-04. One cadet graduated and is now working with the Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group. Eight cadets are currently participating in the Project.

Representatives from Australian Defence Force Recruiting and the Defence Equity Organisation participated in the Wunyunga Careers and Cultural Festival conducted by the Gladstone Indigenous Vocation and Enterprise Network. Defence took this opportunity to promote employment within Defence to approximately 200 indigenous high school students.

Women

Work continued throughout 2003-04 on the Gender Diversity Strategy. The strategy focuses on recruitment, retention and encouraging re-entry of women to the Defence workforce by:

• actively targeting women in recruiting campaigns;
• ensuring that ongoing development and learning opportunities exist for women; and
• developing a re-entry program for personnel on long-term absences from the workplace.

The ADF Physical Employment Standards project commenced in September 2003. The project aims to develop physical employment standards for the Army's combat arms employment categories and the Air Force's Airfield Defence Guards. The outcomes of this study will inform decisions on employment category selection, training and injury prevention and will help manage occupational health and safety. They will also enable further consideration of the roles in which women in the ADF are able to serve.

Commonwealth Disability Strategy

With the cessation of the Defence Disability Action Plan 1999-2003 on 30 April 2003, Defence's responsibilities under the Commonwealth Disability Strategy have been included in the Defence Workplace Equity and Diversity Plan 2003-2005. Defence's continued implementation of the strategy during 2003-04 included the requirement to provide recruitment and selection information in an accessible format to potential job applicants, and the improvement of Defence online and computer services to make them more accessible to people with a disability.

People with a Disability

Following a series of workshops aimed at reinvigorating the Defence Disability Strategy, the Defence Equity Organisation is developing a number of short and medium-term initiatives to be implemented during 2004-2005.

Defence continued to participate in the Technical Equipment for Disabled Commonwealth Employees Program and spent approximately $11,000 to assist Defence APS employees with a disability.

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Managing Unacceptable Behaviour

Two new policies on unacceptable behaviour were released in February 2004:

• Defence Instruction (General) Personnel 35-3 Managing and Reporting of Unacceptable Behaviour; and
• Defence Instruction (General) Personnel 35-4 Managing and Reporting of Sexual Offences.

Streamlined policy instructions provide clear guidance as well as details of support options available to all parties involved in an incident. An Australia-wide education program was undertaken between March and June 2004 to ensure that Defence commanders and managers were aware of the new policies and their management obligations. The policies were supported by the publication and distribution of a booklet, the Sexual Offence Management Guide, and two brochures: How to Make a Complaint of Unacceptable Behaviour and Managing a Complaint of Unacceptable Behaviour.

Defence has reinforced its principle of all personnel having a fundamental right to work in an environment free from unacceptable behaviour by implementing policies and programs to educate and support Defence staff. Complaints of unacceptable behaviour are reported to the Defence Equity Organisation, which manages a database of reported complaints.

The reporting of complaints of unacceptable behaviour has steadily increased over the last four years. This increase may be due to the emphasis placed upon creating a bully-free workplace, to organisational factors such as an increase in knowledge of unacceptable behaviour, to lower tolerance of what behaviour is unacceptable, and to greater confidence in management in dealing with these issues.

Chart 5.5 indicates the number of complaints of unacceptable behaviour per head of the Defence population for 2003-04. The figures are derived from a straight percentage calculation using the number of personnel in each Service and the number of complaints reported for each Service.

Chart 5.5 Percentage of Reported Unacceptable Behaviour Incidents by Service for 2003-04⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Notes

1. Navy, Army and Air Force populations include the numbers of permanent force personnel and Reserve personnel on continuous full-time service.
2. The table does not show comparative figures from 2002-03 because policy released in 2004 introduced new categories for the measurement of unacceptable behaviour.

Chart 5.6 shows the total number of unacceptable behaviour complaints reported over the last four years. Defence divides unacceptable behaviour into seven categories - sexual offences, sexual harassment, general harassment, discrimination, abuse of power, bullying and inappropriate workplace relationships.

Chart 5.6 Comparison of Reported Unacceptable Behaviour Incidents 2003-04⁽¹⁾

Note

1. Navy, Army and Air Force populations include the numbers of permanent force personnel and Reserve personnel on continuous full-time service.

Education and Training

The focus of the mandatory annual equity and diversity training was on unacceptable behaviour, primarily in terms of bringing it to the attention of authorised personnel and managing the process. During 2003-04, some 82 per cent of Defence personnel and Defence-contracted staff members undertook the training. A new equity and diversity workshop for commanders, managers and supervisors was delivered to Defence personnel in supervisory positions to remind them of their roles and responsibilities. The new equity adviser workshop was launched following its redesign to provide competency-based training for personnel who volunteer to become equity advisers.

The cultural awareness training fund continued during 2003-04, with approval granted to four units to undertake cultural awareness training at a total cost of approximately $31,200. The fund is used to target cultural awareness training for operations and for units needing to build an understanding of their local environment.

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