Page 301 - Week 01 - Thursday, 17 February 2011

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MR STANHOPE: Yes, issues of solar access; a good point, Mr Coe. But we would then have to go through a process of determining a value for the land, and the capacity for the people, the residents, to buy the land. (Time expired.)

MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Chief Minister. Your time has expired.

Mr Stanhope: I ask that all further questions be placed on the notice paper.

Public service respect, equity and diversity framework

Paper and statement by minister

MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Land and Property Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for the Arts and Heritage): For the information of members, I present the following paper:

ACT Public Service—Respect, Equity and Diversity Framework, dated November 2010.

I seek leave to make a statement in relation to the paper.

Leave granted.

MR STANHOPE: On 22 September, the Assembly passed a motion calling on the government to develop a new ACT public service employment framework for people with disabilities and report back to the Assembly by the last sitting day in February. During the debate on the motion, I informed members that the development of an ACT public service disability employment strategy and supporting action plan was part of a broader review of the ACT public service equity and diversity framework.

I am pleased to table the new ACT public service respect, equity and diversity framework, which provides a model and a guide for all staff. This new framework spells out why a workplace that is respectful, equitable and that values individuals and their differences is at the heart of a positive work culture. It sets out the roles and responsibilities for the employees across the ACT public service. It defines respect, equity and diversity and looks at our workforce data to assist in further refining our employment policies and initiatives. It articulates an action plan to address those challenges and a mechanism for evaluating our progress.

We have nothing to fear and much to gain individually and as a public service from making this document a foundation of how we interact with colleagues and with the community—in short, how we do business. The principles themselves are not difficult to understand. To a jurisdiction that led the nation in legislating for the observance of human rights, the principles are familiar ones. Respect can be defined as valuing and considering others at work, equity as treating everyone at work in a fair manner according to their individual needs, and diversity as valuing individual differences in the workplace.


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