Page 2279 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 June 2018

(c)

The data indicators featured in the Common Dataset are not widely published. Their purpose is to provide directorate staff with the information they need to ensure our clients get the best possible outcomes through service provision that have been tailored to meet their needs. The information also provides an evidence base to guide broader service improvements in the ACT.

Some additional data is published annually in the Housing and Homelessness Report on Government Services. In previous years, this reporting has included indicators on people of non-English speaking backgrounds. The AIHW make available reports, data tables and data cubes, which allow the public to explore service use by culturally diverse people for housing and homelessness services, with breakdowns by state and territory. This data is updated annually.

(1)

Access Canberra has not adopted minimum reporting indicators for culturally diverse customers, as it is a service provider for all Canberrans and collection of this information is not possible across the breadth of services provided.

However, efforts have been (and continue to be) made to improve service delivery to these customers. Specifically:

- Access Canberra employs a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce;

- Access Canberra staff attend training on the Respect, Equity and Diversity (RED) Framework which assists them in understanding cultural diversity and delivering quality services to the ACT community;

- Promotes the Telephone Interpreter Service (TIS) phone number 131 450 on its website;

- Improving the knowledgebase for Contact Centre staff about services available across the ACT Government to support culturally diverse customers; and

- Engaging with advocacy groups about how services can be improved.

(1)

No. Treasury does not have any mandatory minimum reporting indicators for culturally diverse customers. It undertakes business under the headings of Community, Government and Commercial, according to safety and business continuity priorities. It does not classify its customers into culturally and/or linguistically diverse categories but seeks to treat everyone on an equal basis.

(1)

Education Directorate (EDU) does not have any mandatory minimum reporting indicators for culturally diverse customers, however EDU collects data about students’ cultural background to enable effective engagement with the school community.

Data about students’ cultural background, including information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, country of birth, first language spoken at home and whether students speak a second language, is collected during the enrolment process.

The data received through the enrolment process is also stored in the current school business system, MAZE. Each school has access to this data for enrolled students at their school only, for the purpose of communications and engagement.

(1) (a)

ACT Health reports on the “Proportion of clients attending a ‘Well Women’s Check’ within the Women’s Health Service that are from culturally and linguistically diverse communities” (Accountability Indicator 1.5e). In addition, ACT Health is required to provide a wide range of patient level data to the AIHW under the National Health Information Agreement. These mandatory data submissions include information such as country of birth for patients who interact with ACT Health across admitted, non-admitted and emergency department services. The AIHW uses the data provided to inform a wide range of National Health reports such as the Australian Hospital Statistics reports.

(b)

All ACT Health staff are made aware and trained in both the minimum mandatory indicators for culturally diverse clients and the importance of collecting this information. This is essential education for all staff. All staff receive information on essential education at Orientation when commencing at ACT Health. It is a requirement in their Learning Management System ‘Capabiliti’ profiles and all staff including Executives have their training record for essential education reported on the Performance Information Portal. Every staff member in ACT Health can see this portal and see if they are not compliant.