Equal Employment Opportunity Annual Report – 1998 Responsibility for Equal Employment Opportunity

The Bank announced its formal commitment to equal employment opportunity in May 1984 and since then has produced five plans to progressively achieve the objectives of its EEO Program. The Program is intended to encourage good personnel management practices for all staff, while meeting legal obligations for the designated EEO groups.

Overall accountability for the Bank's EEO program rests with the Governor. Responsibility for oversight of the program rests with the EEO Policy Committee and Personnel Policy Department. The EEO Policy Committee is a consultative body which makes recommendations to the Governor on EEO issues. The Committee meets on a quarterly basis to identify and prioritise EEO issues within the Bank, and to monitor the EEO activities of each functional area. The Terms of Reference of the EEO Policy Committee are set out in Appendix 1.

All staff have a responsibility for EEO in the workplace.

Employment Conditions Section of Personnel Policy Department provides support to the EEO Policy Committee. This Section researches EEO policy issues, disseminates EEO information, liaises with EEO contact managers, coordinates and monitors EEO progress reports and maintains links with the finance and Commonwealth sectors in relation to equity and diversity matters.

The Head of each functional area is responsible for the implementation of the Bank's EEO plan in their area. They (or their delegate) prepare annual progress reports (in May) on the implementation of EEO. Each supervisor is responsible for ensuring that EEO principles are adhered to in the workplace.

All staff have a responsibility to ensure that the decisions they take and their actions in the workplace are consistent with EEO principles.

At Note Printing Australia (NPA), a separate business unit of the Bank, responsibility for EEO rests with the Human Resources Department. The Joint Union/Management Consultative Committee (JUMCC) is the official forum through which EEO issues are raised. NPA has been corporatised with effect from 1 July 1998 and as a consequence will be responsible for its own EEO program and plan, and will report separately via its own EEO Annual Report from next year.