CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE
PROGRESSING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE IN THE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SECTOR Above: Generational change: increasing gender diversity improves individual, team and organisational performance. PHOTO: GARY HOOKER
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The fire and emergency sector operates in an increasingly challenging and complex space. To ensure a future-ready workforce, the sector needs to have an inclusive work culture that enables agencies to recruit across the full spectrum of talent available in the community. MADELEINE KELLY AFAC
Improving gender balance and increasing diversity will enable the sector to better support and engage with the diverse communities we serve. Established in 2010 by Elizabeth Broderick AO, the Champions of Change Coalition is a globally recognised strategy for achieving gender equality and building respectful and inclusive workplaces. The lack of gender diversity and inclusion within some workforces led AFAC and its members to join the Coalition in 2017. The Fire and Emergency Group is convened by the former Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton and includes chief executives, commissioners and chief fire officers from the agencies responsible for fire, emergency and land management services across Australia and New Zealand. The group enables agencies to learn from each other, gain insights from other sectors and to drive leadership action to build buy-in and push for change to create workplaces and work cultures that are truly inclusive. New CEO Rob Webb is the incoming Champion of Change for AFAC. He believes that the collective minds contributing to the Coalition provide an
FIRE AUSTRALIA
ISSUE ONE 2022
opportunity to move the dial on what we see as normal and acceptable. “Each AFAC member is embarking on a diversity and inclusion journey. AFAC can use its existing membership network to support the efforts of individual agencies to recognise achievements and provide tangible examples for others to learn from, adopt and adapt.” “Increasing gender diversity improves individual, team and organisational performance. Frameworks and mindsets developed through our partnership with Champions of Change support us to build inclusive environments when working for and with diverse communities, including CALD, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+ and people with disabilities,” he said. As part of the transparency and accountability commitment, the Champions of Change Coalition strategy uses annual reporting to track progress. In the fourth report for the Fire and Emergency Group, overall representation of women in the sector was at 21.6% in 2021—a decrease from previous years and down from 24.9% in 2020. However, women’s promotions achieved across the group had a slight increase to 23.2% compared to 19.1% in 2020. Women’s representation in key management personnel roles in frontline service delivery has increased
to 24.2%, an increase on previous years and a big increase from 10 per cent in 2018, the first year of reporting. Frontline service delivery roles include anyone whose primary role is to directly engage with the community to deliver a service that assists in the prevention, preparedness, response, or recovery of incidents. “I’m proud to be part of a sector that has stood up and committed to action to progress gender equity,” Mr Webb said. “The actions we take now can shape the workforce we leave for the next generation. All of us can take personal responsibility to establish the new normal and drive us from commitment to tangible results.” Find reports and resources to support gender equity action at the Champions of Change website: Champions of Change Coalition, 2019, 40:40:20 for Gender Balance: Interrupting Gender Bias in Your Talent Processes. https:// championsofchangecoalition.org/ resource/disrupting-the-system/ Champions of Change Coalition, 2021, Fire and Emergency Progress Report 2021. https:// championsofchangecoalition.org/ reports-and-resources/
