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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Council achievements and outcomes that acknowledge, support and celebrate diversity and inclusion in relation to internal practices and those within the broader community context.
Judging Criteria
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➢ Commitment to diversity and inclusion ➢ Capacity for establishing and maintaining partnerships ➢ Establishment of cross functional working relationships ➢ Influence on innovation ➢ Outcomes achieved within the organisation / community ➢ Benefit to the organisation / community
Winner
Finalists
➢ Brimbank City Council, Living in Your Neighbourhood ➢ Moreland City Council, Inclusion in Action Disability Equity Workshops ➢ Greater Dandenong City Council, HOME Exhibition ➢ Knox City Council, Modular Buildings ➢ Kingston City Council, Kingston Diversity and Inclusion Group
WINNER Diversity & Inclusion
Banyule City Council’s Inclusive Employment Program (IEP) is a Council wide initiative providing local people facing barriers to employment with six months paid employment in a role that is tailored to their area of interest, skill level and ability.
Each program participant has access to 1:1 coaching, a dedicated supervisor, training and development opportunities, and Banyule’s social club at no cost.
The program is designed to support equitable access to employment for the following four groups, which typically experience the highest levels of disadvantage in Banyule:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• Culturally and linguistically diverse, including refugees and asylum seekers
• People living with a disability
• Young people (16-25 years).
The program aims to remove barriers for local people seeking employment within Council by providing them with a tailored role that is aligned to their area of interest, skill level and ability.
In 2019, the IEP provided 11 local employment opportunities for local community members facing barriers to employment. Post program, seven of these people have secured ongoing employment within Council and four others successfully secured casual employment while they either looked to pursue further studies or seek other employment.
The increased diversity and inclusion from this initiative has positively influenced Council to better innovate. The program has broadened the spectrum of diverse thinking, skills and cultures across Council which is encouraging the facilitation of dialogue of diverse groups of people that were not previously engaged in Council consultations. It has created dialogue of different perspectives to build on existing ideas or problem solving, and initiated new ideas not previously imagined to result in better community outcomes.
The initiative has had a significant and positive impact on Council’s organisational culture, with many employees acknowledging renewed job satisfaction and reinvigorated passion for working within Local Government. All business units are engaged and have an increased understanding of the benefits of employing a diverse workforce.
As a result of internal demand, program success, and community support and need, this employment initiative will expand in 2020 to provide approximately 20 employment opportunities.
The program has been codesigned with participants and the community to ensure that barriers and opportunities are realised and responded to in a meaningful way. Council works in partnership with specialist local employment service providers and community groups to engage and support community members interested in applying.
Banyule City Council is internally funding this role through a dedicated Social Enterprise & Local Jobs team operating budget. Council accepts its role is to support an inclusive community where all people have access to equitable employment outcomes.
The initiative is the first of its kind in Australia within the Local Government sector, and other LGAs have expressed interest in understanding how they can implement a similar program. Banyule’s Social Enterprise & Local Jobs team, together with MAV have committed to creating a program Toolkit to share with other Councils to support the transferability across the sector.
FINALISTS Diversity & Inclusion
Brimbank's Living in Your Neighbourhood (LYIN) program is a Council partnership with local language providers. It works with local Adult Migrant Education language services to deliver interactive sessions to refugees and humanitarian entrants about the roles and functions of Local Government.
With a strong emphasis on building social connections, participants get to know services, staff and programs that are relevant to them in their new place of settlement.
LYIN is an action of the Brimbank Settlement Action Plan 2019- 2023 that aims to create a welcoming environment and strengthen social cohesion. The plan recognises that refugees and humanitarian entrants to Brimbank come from vast backgrounds, different, and sometimes traumatic experiences. This program helps people new to the community know about what is available to them, and what is expected of them in a way that builds sustainable connections. Participants can learn English in settings outside their classrooms which language teachers believe is vital in the learning process. More significantly students are more equipped to deal with everyday matters in their new lives in Australia.
Brimbank's unique partnership approach, both internally and externally, has facilitated the development and delivery of a program which meets many mutual objectives. New arrivals learn English in a day to day setting, about things that matter to them in their new country while Council continually develops and tailors its programs to suit the needs of people settling in their community.
The Inclusion in Action Disability Equity Workshops were co designed with people with disability and the Metro Access Officer at Moreland City Council in 2019. They were developed after staff at several Moreland neighbourhood houses identified a need to increase disability inclusion literacy amongst their staff, tutors and volunteers.
They sought practical inclusion tools to meaningfully include people with disability as participants, as tutors, volunteers and co workers. The primary target community that benefited from this training were people with disability, including people with mental health issues and people who identified as deaf or hard of hearing.
The workshops were co designed by inclusion professionals Katrine Gabb (Moreland City Council Metro Access Officer), Jo Dunbar (External Inclusive Practice Trainer who is hearing impaired) and Joshua Morgan (Inclusive Employment placement at Moreland, specifically attached to this project, who is blind). The two, full day workshops provided practical disability inclusive strategies and advice, offered information of how the NDIS and Neighbourhood Houses could interrelate, explored authentic inclusivity stories by three people with diverse lived experiences of disability, looked at case studies from local Neighbourhood Houses and provided practical inclusion tools and resources.
The co designed, authentically disability led feature of this program sets it apart from many other Council and other organisation's disability equity training offerings. The voice of the person with disability is at the core of this project and as a result, it holds enormous efficacy to lead changes in attitudes and practices. This project has also led to employment for five people with disabilities.
FINALISTS Diversity & Inclusion
GREATER DANDENONG CITY COUNCIL HOME EXHIBITION
The annual HOME exhibition showcases the work of emerging and established artists from refugee and people seeking asylum backgrounds and celebrates the enormous contribution that they bring to the community, both in the City of Greater Dandenong and beyond.
The exhibition, run for the fourth year in 2019, is curated following an open, national call out and seeks to offer opportunities to diverse artists and practitioners, not only to exhibit their work but also to provide professional development and networking opportunities. It also offers artists the unique opportunity to shape the theme and narrative of their work, funding to develop new work, and provides an insight for visitors.
HOME is curated by Greater Dandenong City Council and has had many benefits for both Council, its community and the broader community. The exhibition also showcases the positive impact that people seeking asylum and refugees have on the community and highlights the enormous contributions they make.
Participants in HOME are paired with a mentor (an established artist or curator) to provide further opportunities to develop their artist and professional practice.
The exhibition is unique in that it offers visitors the opportunity to see and hear from people seeking asylum or from a refugee background on their own terms, and through a medium in which they feel comfortable.
Participation in the exhibition with the supportive environment, in depth mentoring and professional gallery presentation is an important step for refugee and asylum artists entering the world of visual art in Australia.
KNOX CITY COUNCIL MODULAR BUILDINGS
The Knox sporting community has experienced unprecedented growth in female participation numbers over recent years, most notably with Australian Rules Football with a 300% increase in the number of female teams/participants between 2015 and 2019.
As a result, Council’s existing sporting facilities, several of which were once deemed overflow facilities, were sorely tested. To address this Council invested $7.7 million in 2017/18 to establish six new modular constructed facilities over three years.
These facilities provide privacy, safety and comfort for all sportspeople, and specifically support the continued growth of female participation in sport throughout the region.
Council’s development and adoption of innovative modular building solutions was the direct result of the organisation engaging with the community, identifying their diverse needs and working with them in an inclusive manner to deliver positive outcomes for the entire community.
The delivery of modular buildings aligns with Council’s highest level strategies including its Community and Council Plan 2017-2021 and Community Access and Equity Implementation Plan 2017-2022, which states: ‘Knox City Council recognises that it has an important role in ensuring that all people are supported to fully participate in the community, that their human rights are protected and promoted and that they have equitable and dignified access to information, goods, services and life opportunities’.
The new modular building facilities have made a tremendous difference for so many community members, particularly female athletes and their families, by helping overcome antiquated cultural norms and increasing female participation in sport.
FINALISTS Diversity & Inclusion
Cultural diversity is being celebrated from within at Kingston City Council and it is making a deep and lasting impact across the community.
The municipality has a population of 160,000 and almost half of all residents were born overseas or have at least one parent who was born overseas.
In 2017, Council recognised that a stronger cultural diversity focus within its organisation would encourage positive flow on effects to the community. Kingston’s Diversity and Inclusion initiative was driven by the establishment of a Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG) – a collection of staff from across the organisation committed to fostering an inclusive workplace culture that celebrates diversity.
The group has worked together to nurture talent and grow employees’ experiences; create an inquisitive culture where innovation by collaboration is fostered; and create a safe and respectful workplace culture where all staff are able to be their true self.
Through DIG’s advocacy, a part time dedicated Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator position was established in December 2018. This has seen the creation of a host of strategic and practical outcomes. Council has undertaken review of its policies and processes, specifically targeting diversity and inclusion using a gender, LGBTIAQ+, cultural and disability lens.
It has increased employment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, embedded diversity and inclusion into the processes and policies within its People Support Department; and tailored gender equality and diversity training has changed long term mindset and attitudes ensuring the organisation continues to maintain broad attitudes as new policies and procedures are adopted.
Latrobe City Council CONSTRUCTION OF A SPORTS PAVILION AT LATROBE SYNTHETIC SPORTS FIELD, CHURCHILL
The Latrobe Synthetic Sports Field Pavilion Project is an exciting project providing a multi-use pavilion for users of the Latrobe City Synthetic Sports Field, both sporting and educational.
Latrobe City Council has delivered a modern facility that provides unisex change facilities for all participants, a large multi-purpose room, commercial kitchen and associated office and storage space. The striking modern architecture and design focused on sustainability and use of natural materials and has been embraced by the local community. The project has provided much needed infrastructure for the synthetic sports field and is complementary to the adjacent Federation University campus.
The pavilion project was developed from a private/public partnership and has delivered a state of the art multi-use regional facility at a prime location at the entry of Federation University in Churchill.
The following project drivers underpinned the much needed multi-use pavilion:
To construct a multi-use pavilion that responded to the needs of a diverse range of sporting and education users; To construct a multi-use pavilion that was based upon the key principles of Universal Design, and was able to provide a seamless and inclusive experience for all users of the facility; To incorporate the use of wood products in the construction to comply with Latrobe City Council’s Wood Encouragement Policy; and To develop a design that responded to the existing University standard buildings and surrounds whilst providing a practical and usable space for multiple user groups.
In response to these drivers, the project aimed for the following key outcomes:
To create a precinct that facilitated community
participation, inclusion, cohesion and interaction with
sporting, education and meeting facilities, all designed
to be complementary to the adjacent synthetic sports
field and Federation University campus .
The pavilion embodies a successful collaboration between the community, government, institution and industry.
Lateral and creative project thinking made the most of resources for local benefit through a variety of means, including:
Joint community/institutional use across a typical week, maximising the utilisation of the asset. Latrobe City Council, Latrobe Valley Hockey Association and Federation University worked collaboratively together to fund the project and establish a joint-use agreement for the pavilion. Timber building materials were specified wherever possible to support the local Latrobe and Gippsland timber industries. To allow timber to be utilised, the project employed fire-engineering methods to provide a performance solution to achieve compliance with the building code. The building features timber walls, timber cladding and internal linings, first floor structure and solid timber roof structure, maximising the use of locally produced timber. The building design and siting made creative use of challenging constraints. ‘Between a rock and a hard place’, the building was very carefully sited on the side of a hill, threading the needle between an authority sewer main, an existing car park, and hockey pitch lighting. The limited site caused the building to be constructed over two levels with change rooms next to the pitch and entry from the car park. This design has given the upper level a perfect vantage point over the pitch for spectators.
This project has provided the users of the regionally significant Latrobe City Synthetic Sports Field with a pavilion that can be utilised by all participants; males and females, players and officials as well as volunteers and spectators.
The Latrobe City Synthetic Sports Field is classified as a regional centre of excellence for the sport of hockey. Prior to the pavilion being constructed, the hockey community were limited to the type and number of significant events that they could host at the venue due to a lack of facilities. The construction of the pavilion has provided the community with a venue that meets the exacting standard required for elite and high standard hockey competitions.
The pavilion at the Synthetic Sports Field was the final major stage in providing a comprehensive sporting precinct which is now being utilised by the Latrobe City community and Federation University’s Gippsland campus. The capacity to access high quality outdoor and indoor sports venues, with adjacent facilities, storage and teaching/function spaces, provides the flexibility needed for Federation University to expand social sporting activities, physical education, and sport and exercise science degree programs.
