Equity & Diversity Annual Report – 2008 Section 1: Equity & Diversity at the RBA

Commitment

The RBA is committed to embedding the principles of equity and diversity into its everyday work practices. To assist in reaching this goal, the Workplace Diversity Plan 2006–2008 (“Diversity Plan”) was designed to promote and implement policies and resources to create a workplace that is fair, inclusive and free from all forms of unacceptable behaviour. The main goal of the Diversity Plan is to ensure that equity and diversity is viewed as mainstream to the RBA's operations and is an integral part of policies, programs and behaviour. A new Diversity Plan will be implemented in the coming year.

Legislation

The table below details the legal obligations that underpin the RBA's diversity program. It shows the various pieces of legislation that have provided a basis for the RBA's policies and practices aimed at ensuring a fair and equitable workplace.

Responsibility for Equity & Diversity

The Equity and Diversity Policy Committee is responsible for developing and implementing the RBA's Diversity Plan. The Committee is a consultative body which has, as members, representatives of executive management, staff, the union and Personnel Department. It makes recommendations to the Governor on equity and diversity issues. The Terms of Reference of the Committee is set out in Appendix 5.1.

The Head of each functional group is responsibile for equity and diversity activities and performance within their areas, with Personnel Department providing specialist services to assist in the development, implementation and monitoring of the overall program.

Diversity Contact Managers' within each functional group are responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Diversity Plan in their department. All staff have a responsibility to ensure the decisions they take and their actions in the workplace are consistent with equity and diversity principles. Overall accountability for the RBA's equity and diversity program ultimately rests with the Governor.

Collection of Equity & Diversity Data

Equity and diversity information is sought from staff when they commence employment at the RBA. It is provided on a voluntary basis and includes information on any disability that a staff member may have, as well as their ethnic origin and education. The RBA's equity and diversity statistics are based primarily on these data. Additional information on speaking/writing abilities in languages other than English is also collected and updated every year thus providing a database for access by RBA staff for interpreter or translation assistance.

In 2008, all staff were given the opportunity to formally update details of any disability that they may have acquired since commencing work. This has given the RBA the chance to ensure that staff have access to assistive technology, and that staff know who to contact within the RBA on disability-related matters.

Consultation

The RBA consults with employees on diversity issues through a number of forums to encourage discussion, provide information and gain feedback. The Equity and Diversity Policy Committee provides one such avenue for consultation, as does the network of Diversity Contact Managers (which acts as an intermediary between the Policy Committee and staff). Interested staff are also consulted on building- and systems-accessibility needs, and have representation on the Accessibility Consultative Group, the main group responsible for such issues. The RBA also consults with workplace unions (primarily the Finance Sector Union) on a range of diversity issues.

Apart from the above, the principal means of providing information to staff about equity and diversity issues are via: Staff Matters, the staff newsletter; Currency, the monthly staff magazine; and Personnel Department's intranet site. The Equity & Diversity Annual Report 2007 was distributed to staff via email, placed on the RBA's intranet and hard copies made available on request.