Equity & Diversity Annual Report – 2006 Section 4: Appendices

Appendix 4.1: Equity & Diversity Policy Committee Terms of Reference

Role

The role of the Committee is to assist the RBA to achieve its aims for equal opportunity in employment.

Functions

The Committee has the following functions:

• To make recommendations to the RBA on equity and diversity principles and policy.
• To keep under examination the development of an appropriate equity and diversity program for the RBA.
• To monitor and report periodically to the Governor on these matters.

Membership

The Committee comprises four members:

• Chairperson – appointed by the Governor;
• Deputy Chairperson – Head of Personnel (ex-officio);
• Union Representative – an employee nominated by the Reserve Bank Officers' Section of the Finance Sector Union; and
• RBA Representative – an employee nominated by the RBA.

The members nominated by the Union and the RBA may each have an alternate. The Manager, Staff Relations & Conditions Section, Personnel Department, participates as a non-voting member in all meetings of the Committee. The Committee may invite participation in discussion by staff or unions representing particular work areas or having particular expertise in the matters under consideration.

Meetings

Three members must be present to constitute a quorum, including the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson; the RBA Representative or Alternate; the Union Representative or Alternate. The Senior Consultant, Staff Training & Development Section, acts as Secretary to the Committee (ex-officio).

Appendix 4.2: Summary of the Workplace Diversity Plan Initiatives 2006–2008

This section provides a summary of Plan initiatives:

Recruitment and Selection

• Monitor processes to identify and remove potential barriers to female applicants and appointments (or career progression).
• Consider initiatives to encourage female applicants for Graduate Program.
• Investigate options for recruiting more Indigenous Australians, e.g. at Head Office and the Business Recovery site.
• Identify and remove barriers to continuing employment/recruitment of mature age workers.
• Monitor initiatives in the Graduate Development Program designed to enhance the scope for advancement of female graduates into management positions over time.
• Advertise vacancies throughout the Bank and externally to increase the potential for a wider and more diverse pool of applicants.
• Provide access for applications both electronic and print media.
• Survey staff returning from parental leave re their access to information while on leave and remedy if appropriate.
• Monitor position descriptions to ensure they do not discriminate directly or indirectly e.g. qualification requirements.
• Review effectiveness of PD representatives on selection panels and conduct ‘refresher’ awareness sessions if necessary.
• Review and alter as necessary the existing panel training material to ensure adequate and accurate information is included in relation to discrimination and diversity.
• Ensure that panel members are aware of the ‘reasonable adjustment’ requirement in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA).
• Review recruitment and selection processes and where necessary make changes to ensure compliance.
• Develop polices on employing mature-age workers and staff in transition to retirement.
• Review induction arrangements as they will apply to new staff recruited or transferred to the BRS and implement new arrangements as required.
• Monitor induction arrangements and ensure that reasonable adjustments are made where necessary and advise that the appropriate information is forwarded to management.
• Review current induction program to ensure it satisfies a variety of learning styles.
• Implement programs that support diverse cultures in the workplace and promote a positive environment.

Training and Development

• Consult with managers, supervisors and staff about training needs and review programs for suitability and relevance.
• Develop and implement suitable strategy for including staff at BRS in mainstream training and encourage participation.
• Continue to assess Training & Development strategies against those of benchmark employers.
• Review appraisal results to assess whether training needs have been raised and/or addressed.
• Consider amending development plans to encourage staff to report on skills enhanced/developed during the year.
• Make information on training policy and programs readily available to all staff.
• Analyse training data by designated group and location to identify any areas of possible disadvantage and address accordingly.
• Conduct training annually for Grievance Contact Officers and Diversity Contact Managers.
• In developing programs ensure that the diverse needs of staff are considered whether they are cultural, religious, family responsibilities or disability.
• Conduct training programs at the BRS for Head Office staff and BRS staff where practicable.
• Extend disability awareness training to staff in customer service and facilities management roles to improve services.

Positive Work Environment

• Assist staff to better balance work and their responsibilities by introducing practical, flexible work arrangements.
• Promote the Billabond Children's Centre to support staff with young families in the workplace.
• Assist staff with disabilities to maximise productivity and where appropriate provide support.
• Manage adjustments in the workplace and tailor flexible work options to meet staff needs and the Bank's requirements.
• Ensure awareness of the Bank's Parent Room facility in Head Office.
• Continue to implement the Building Access Plan as opportunities arise.
• Raise staff awareness in the importance of both physical and emotional wellbeing.
• Implement Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Monitor policies on discrimination and harassment to ensure that they are working effectively.
• Monitor changes to legislation and review for impact on Bank policies and relevant training.
• Provide ongoing education to all staff about Bank and individual responsibility under workplace legislation.
• Maintain effective consultation processes e.g. with staff through various consultative committees, information sessions and the Occupational Health Nurse.
• Review current grievance procedures in the light of the standard under the Work Choices legislation.
• Assess accessibility of grievance procedures to all staff and improve where necessary.

Work Organisation

• Monitor proposals for restructuring to ensure staff affected are treated equitably.
• Collect data on number of staff working flexible hours and survey them re access to promotion and training opportunities.
• Review policy to allow staff appointed to permanent part-time roles to be able to transfer to full-time roles at level without need for merit selection.
• In reviewing proposals for redesigned/new jobs, raise awareness of managers of the benefits of organising position responsibilities in a manner that enables staff to balance work and personal/family responsibilities.
• Provide information to managers/supervisors to assist them in managing flexible work requests.
• Identify key positions sensitive to loss of incumbent through retirement or resignation and suitable replacements.
• Use opportunities such as higher duty, new work e.g. BRS or projects to train suitable
  replacement(s).

This section provides a summary of Diversity initiatives:

* Green text denotes areas of focus for 2006/07

Gender

• Investigate options for promoting the Bank as an employer of choice for women at Universities e.g. female social clubs.
• Monitor annually recruitment and selection processes for possible barriers to female applicants for employment and promotion.
• *Investigate/implement coaching programs for female graduates and senior managers where it could enhance their prospects for advancement to management/senior management positions.
• Review effectiveness of Springboard and Xplore programs as career development support programs by surveying staff who have participated in these programs as to their effectiveness.
• Implement as part of the Executive Development Program, suitable programs that enhance the skills of female managers to progress to more senior management roles.
• Provide opportunities for female staff to be exposed to role models from external organisations.
• Review the degree of access female staff on parental leave have to information on job vacancies and improve where practicable.
• *Continue to investigate flexible work options that assist female staff to return to work or balance current job responsibilities with family/carer's responsibilities. Take into account any special circumstances e.g. working at BRS.
• To preserve privacy, improve arrangements for interested staff to request a maternity Leave Pack via the PD Intranet.
• Investigate and review the possibility of conducting a seminar – ‘Preparing for and Returning from Parental Leave’.
• *Improve reporting mechanisms especially for women on parental leave and extended other leave to assist further development of policy on flexible work options.
• Review PD Intranet for ease of locating HR policies and information. Consider scope to provide external access to PD site for staff on extended leave.

Indigenous Australians

• * Maintain designated traineeship position with mentoring support. Consider scope for traineeship at BRS and offer second traineeship if demand warrants.
• * Investigate scope to offer work experience to indigenous students as a way to establish familiarity with the RBA as an employer and to provide a potential candidate for the traineeship position.
• Monitor the use of the Commonwealth Indigenous Cadetship Program by other organisations in terms of its effectiveness in attracting recruits. Monitor potential opportunities across the Bank for a suitable position.
• Investigate data on indigenous students enrolled in RBA-relevant undergraduate or post graduate programs.

Mature Workforce

• * Investigate current obstacles to staff wishing to continue working with the Bank but in transition to retirement and propose options to overcome them.
• * Develop a policy to cover ‘transition to retirement’ for current employees.
• Ensure policy implementation includes an awareness program.
• Review current recruitment/selection and flexible work policies to identify possible obstacles to the recruitment of mature-age workers.
• * Review the role of the Bank's medical guidelines and ensure that they do not discriminate against mature-age applicants.
• Review training data to identify where existing mature-age workers might benefit from training opportunities.
• Benchmark recruitment, flexible work and training policies in competitor organisations for ways to improve emerging Bank policy in this area.
• Investigate whether some types of jobs are better suited to mature-age employees' needs e.g. jobs with no travel, jobs with fixed hours and work requirements.

People with Disabilities

• Occupational Health Nurse to conduct regular review of workplace issues with staff with disabilities for input to policy development and workplace adjustments.
• Make information on training programs more accessible by implementing new systems for alerting staff to new programs (I-alert).
• * Purchase suitable training package to improve accessibility for the Bank's in-house software developers.
• Review induction information to ensure it is being provided to staff in accessible formats.
• Develop and implement in conjunction with external service providers a training module covering disability.
• In consultation with staff, investigate developing profiles of common disabilities relevant to the Bank as part of an effort to raise awareness of disability issues.
• * Re-issue the information booklet on disabilities to staff as part of releasing the new Diversity Plan.
• * Conduct disability awareness sessions for staff, including customer service and facilities management roles.
• Ensure information on the Bank's grievance procedures is available on PD's Intranet and is accessible by all staff.
• Investigate opportunities for work experience for high school and TAFE students with a disability.
• Inform departments annually of computer-related equipment that is available to address staff with a disability.
• Continue consultation with staff with a disability on initiatives such as the Diversity Plan to assist with their effective implementation.
• * Establish a ‘test lab’ environment for assessing the suitability of computer related accessibility devices.
• * Survey staff regarding disabilities to raise awareness and improve disability access features of ‘test lab’.
• Monitor changes to the World Wide Web consortium (W3C) guidelines and update the Bank's systems accessibility protocol as necessary.
• Continue to improve the accessibility features of the Bank's internal and external web sites.
• Continue to consult with Systems Accessibility Technical Group (SATG) and Disability Action Plan Consultative Group (DAPCG) on technology and disability aspects of the Diversity Plan.
• * Extend facilities to more conference/meeting rooms to accommodate people with hearing impairment.
• Monitor the EEO information form for new employees to ensure that it continues to capture details on disability.

Race-ethnicity

• Review staff training programs and communication re training programs to ensure they do not include direct or indirect barriers to staff participants.
• Monitor induction and probation arrangements to identify behaviours that have the potential to create a hostile environment for some groups.
• Review content of appraisal information for supervisors to ensure that importance of making allowance for different cultures is included.
• * Promote technical writing programs to improve English Language writing skills and also investigate suitable verbal communication programs.
• Include segment on cross-cultural awareness in the Bank's mainstream training programs.
• * Provide training/information session options to areas requesting assistance with cultural awareness issues.
• Review information on grievance procedures to ensure that it is provided in appropriate languages.
• Monitor the EEO information form for new employees to ensure that it continues to capture details on race/ethnicity.
• Provide English language skills training where necessary to improve career prospects of staff.

Work/Life Balance

• * Investigate and implement where suitable options for annual leave at half pay or a 48/52 purchased leave scheme that provides scope for staff to better balance work and family responsibilities.
• Investigate scope to adopt provisions of parental leave test case that provide for part-time work until child reaches school age.
• * Monitor quality and use of parent room and maintain accreditation, review return to work kits for relevance of information.
• Investigate further options to promote use of the Billabond Children's Centre to Bank staff and options for assisting with childcare at the Business Recovery Site.
• * Review effectiveness of PD Intranet site on Work and Family by measuring how often it is accessed and for what purpose.
• Monitor work from home arrangements to ensure they continue to meet the Bank's operational requirements and the needs of staff.
• Pilot a working parents' forum to provide networking opportunities for these staff and encourage attendance by staff on LWOP by providing access to childcare at no cost to the parent.
• * Review operation of personal leave arrangements in light of introduction of Work Choices legislation and consider whether to change where necessary.
• Investigate possibility of Bank providing a day's paid leave per year for staff to work for a charity or community-based organisation.
• Investigate feasibility of providing a link to the PD Intranet that is accessible to staff from outside the Bank so that staff have access to information while away from the Bank.

Appendix 4.3: Statistical Data

Collection of Statistics

Section 6 of the Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987 requires the collection of statistics on the following designated groups: women, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people with disabilities. The RBA collects the following statistics by designated group:

• Representation within Salary Ranges (See 4.3.1)
• Representation within Classification Levels (See 4.3.2)
• Representation within Occupational Groups (See 4.3.3)
• Recruitment (See 4.3.4)
• Promotions (See 4.3.5)
• Resignations (See 4.3.6)
• Retirements (See 4.3.7)
• Non Contractor Salary Range
• Contractor: Salary Ranges, Location, Occupational Group
• Rehired Recruitment Numbers
• Staff Numbers: by Age Distribution, by Length of Service

In addition, statistics are also collected on: transfers; training; presentations at conferences; study; composition of selection panels; parental leave (including resumptions, resignations, hours of work); carer's leave; and part-time work. Where available, these statistics are also presented by designated group to assist in the analysis of equity and diversity policies and practices.

ASCO codes

All positions in the RBA have been assigned an ASCO code, the standard developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The assigned ASCO code is based on the skill/knowledge requirements of the job. There are eight groupings at the RBA, these will be reviewed in the next reporting period.

Occupational Group

Managers

Professionals

Associate Professionals

Tradespersons

Advanced Clerical

Intermediate Clerical

Elementary Clerical

Production, Transport & Manual

Appendix 4.3.1

Appendix 4.3.2

Appendix 4.3.3

Appendix 4.3.4

Appendix 4.3.5

Appendix 4.3.6

Appendix 4.3.7