Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, want to thank the member for Fowler for engaging in this discussion around how we make sure that we have the very best Public Service delivering for the very best country in the world. I inform members of the House that the act already states, in section 10A:

(1) The APS is a career based public service that:

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(g) recognises the diversity of the Australian community and fosters diversity in the workplace.

So we already have something in the act that goes to the matters which the member is rightly advocating for in terms of recognising that diversity in our Public Service is a strength and something which we can strengthen further. This amendment bill would replace a substantially similar section of the act with other words, and, as I noted, the current act already recognises and fosters diversity in the workplace.

One of the key pillars of the government's ongoing APS reform agenda is for the Australian public sector to be a model employer. I think we all know that that expectation is something which every minister of the Albanese government takes very seriously in terms of the conversations we have with our departments and in terms of the responsibilities we have through the Australian Public Service Commission and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

There is already significant work underway—commissioned by the Minister for the Public Service and being led by the Australian Public Service Commission—to promote further diversity in the Australian Public Service. This includes the work that is already underway to develop an APS Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Employment Strategy. The CALD employment strategy is something which will ensure we harness the full talents of this nation, as the member for Fowler spoke about. There is huge benefit in doing so. We recognise that, and that is why we've commenced that work. We're consulting widely in the development of the CALD Employment Strategy—including across the Australian Public Service and other jurisdictions and with the Australian Human Rights Commission, community groups and academic and subject-matter experts—because we want to get this right.

The result of this work will come to government in the coming months and we will consider it closely. Therefore, it is the view of the government that these amendments are not necessary to ensure that the government is promoting diversity in the Public Service. We share the value of recognising that diversity in the Public Service is something which many in this place champion, and we know it will get us the best results—again, not just for the Public Service but for the community which it serves.

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