Annual Progress Report for 2009 and 2010

Establish a RAP Working Group made up of Indigenous staff, Human Resources Division, Indigenous Policy Unit and other interested staff to develop and monitor the RAP.

RAP Working Group established.

2 x RAP meetings per year.

RAP Working Group report to Treasury Executive 1 x per year.

2 formal RAP meetings (February and July 2009) and regular consultation between members of the working group.

Report provided to the Executive in June 2009.

The informal meetings between relevant members of the working group have been useful in progressing work towards RAP targets.

ON TRACK

Engage with Indigenous leaders, organisations such as Cape York Institute and Reconciliation Australia, and academics with interest and expertise in this area, to assist our understanding and learning.

Ensure every member of the Indigenous Policy Unit has had the opportunity to establish an ongoing formal two-way learning engagement with an Indigenous organisation/ professional/leader. The learnings will be communicated to all interested staff.

One team member has established an ongoing formal two-way learning engagement with the MJD Foundation.

Senior managers have met with Indigenous leaders as opportunities arise to better inform policy discussions.

Utilising networks to establish the formal relationships is important.

There is much to gain from greater engagement with Indigenous people and organisations in relation to policy design.

ON TRACK

Engage with relevant academics on emerging research and issues.

Arrange meetings with academics from a wide range of disciplines.

Develop an internal database for an Indigenous evidence base.

Attended numerous meetings with experts in Indigenous fields.

The internal database for an Indigenous evidence base has been established on the shared drive.

The internal database has been utilised less since the launch of the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse.

ACHIEVED

Participate in Indigenous Conferences and policy forums.

Every member of the Indigenous Policy Unit has the opportunity to attend at least one Conference concerned with Indigenous issues.

One team member attended the three day 2009 AIATSIS conference.

Three team members attended the 2010 AIATSIS Native Title conference.

Other team members have attended various forums on Indigenous issues.

Conferences and forums provide team members with the opportunity to engage with new research, ideas and Indigenous organisations.

Networking at the conferences and forums has been useful to establish ongoing relationships, including guest lectures at the Treasury.

ACHIEVED

Contribute to the Single Indigenous Budget Submission Budget Process.

Seek to ensure that the Single Indigenous Budget Submission and COAG Reforms contribute to the Closing the Gap targets.

Actively worked with all relevant agencies on the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Single Indigenous Budget Submissions to achieve beneficial outcomes for Indigenous people.

A coordinated and integrated approach is necessary to ensure good outcomes are achieved from the SIBS process.

ACHIEVED

Facilitate a whole of government approach to Indigenous policies.

Attend relevant interdepartmental committees.

Attended all relevant interdepartmental committees and also chaired interdepartmental committees.

Interdepartmental committees are a good pathway for information sharing and building relationships.

ACHIEVED

Contribute to COAG's Indigenous reforms.

Chair the Commonwealth Troika for the Working Group on Indigenous Reform.

Chaired the Troika meeting throughout 2009 and some of 2010.

Since June 2010, the Commonwealth Troika has been replaced with a FaHCSIA-chaired committee, of which the Treasury is a member.

The Troika meetings were a good high-level forum to discuss and decide on COAG issues.

The meetings are most useful when they are forward-looking and action oriented rather than focused on implementation matters.

ACHIEVED

Facilitate the better collection of Indigenous data.

Chair Steering Committee to establish an Indigenous Expenditure Framework.

Continued to Chair the Indigenous Expenditure Report Steering Committee.

The first national Indigenous Expenditure Report is being developed for COAG to provide governments with a better understanding of the level and patterns of services to Indigenous Australians, and assist policy makers to target policies to Close the Gap in Indigenous Disadvantage.

ACHIEVED

Explore alternate options to improve Indigenous financial literacy and access to financial products.

Provide input, discuss options and exchange ideas with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and other regulators.

Regular consultation with ASIC and FaHCSIA on financial literacy issues and access to financial products. This includes discussions relating to Indigenous financial literacy, education and access to suitable financial products.

Improving Indigenous financial literacy is an important element in bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

ON TRACK

Inform staff of acknowledgement of country protocols.

Distribute acknowledgement of country protocols to appropriate staff.

Protocols were developed in consultation with Reconciliation Australia and distributed to relevant staff in July 2009.

Protocols were provided to staff as needed through 2010.

ACHIEVED

Secondment Program.

Secondments to the Cape York Institute, or similar.

Two staff were seconded to the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership for a 12 month period concluding in September 2009. This was the fourth such secondment of officers to the Institute. The staff members worked across a range of Indigenous issues, including policy work on the Cape York Welfare Reform Trials and work with the Cape York Leadership Academy. The Welfare Reform Trials are now in their operational phase.

While the deed of agreement between the Treasury and the Cape York Institute has now expired, the department will continue to explore opportunities to collaborate with academics and Indigenous organisations through similar arrangements in the future.

The secondment arrangements provided significant development opportunities for the staff involved, including the opportunity to work with Indigenous leaders, visit communities and attend significant cultural events such as the Laura Dance Festival. Since returning, the secondees have shared their experiences across the Treasury through divisional discussions and seminars.

ACHIEVED

Guest lectures on Indigenous issues by Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Two lectures in 2009 and in 2010.

Guest lectures have talked frankly about issues in remote communities and the data on Indigenous Australians. In 2009, lectures were provided by Fred Chaney and Claire Martin, and in 2010, Dr Chris Sarra spoke on “Stronger Smarter Approaches to Indigenous Policy Reform”. Later in 2010 Fred Chaney gave a second seminar with Bill Gray and Neil Westbury.

Staff attended lectures by Indigenous Australians held by other departments, universities or organisations, such as AIATSIS.

Book guest lecturers in early, particularly for NAIDOC week.

Lectures not only increase staff awareness on Indigenous issues but also increase staff awareness of the RAP.

ACHIEVED

Recognise, celebrate and raise awareness of Indigenous cultural issues.

Ensure regularly updated information is available to all staff via the Treasury intranet, including information on celebratory events such as NAIDOC week.

Intranet updated throughout 2009 and 2010 including advertising for Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week and Reconciliation Australia's Closing the Gap Conversations. In addition, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags were displayed in the Treasury foyer.

NAIDOC Week 2009 was celebrated with the launch of Treasury's RAP with guest speaker Professor Fred Chaney.

NAIDOC Week 2010 activities included Dr Chris Sarra's seminar, which was well attended and received good feedback from staff.

The Secretary raised issues surrounding Indigenous wellbeing during a number of his speeches (both internal and external) throughout 2009 and 2010.

Recognition of days of Indigenous cultural significance has become an important part of the Treasury calendar.

ACHIEVED

Include Indigenous issues in relevant training programs.

Indigenous policy issues included in training programs such as the Executive Leadership Program.

In past years an Indigenous topic has been included in the Executive Leadership program. However, in 2009 and 2010 this was unable to be facilitated.

Indigenous Culture, History and Heritage Workshops were introduced to develop skills that will enable staff to identify issues that are relevant to Indigenous people.

The Treasury will endeavour to include an Indigenous topic in future iterations of the Executive Leadership Program.

ON TRACK

Provide staff with access to Indigenous cultural awareness information/training as appropriate.

Offer cultural awareness training to staff on secondments.

Access to cultural awareness training is offered and promoted to all staff.

Information on Indigenous cultural awareness is included in New Starters' Induction material and is available on the intranet.

An Indigenous Culture, History and Heritage workshop was offered to all staff in March and June 2010. Both workshops received good feedback and a very strong interest. 36 staff from across the Treasury participated in these workshops in 2010, reflecting a high level of interest.

It is expected that the workshop will be delivered twice each year to provide staff with information and skills to increase their knowledge of Australia's Indigenous history and allow better communication and protocol between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

The next workshop is scheduled for March 2011.

A link to the 'Share our Pride' website is included on the New Starter's intranet site. The site is promoted to all new staff at monthly induction sessions along with the Cultural Awareness Workshops.

Feedback from the first two workshops reflected that participants felt that the workshop was highly beneficial.

Comments from evaluations reflected that the workshop provided participants with 'excellent practical knowledge of how best to engage with Aboriginal people' and a 'better understanding of the diversity, culture, value system of Aboriginal people'.

Staff undertaking secondments to Indigenous communities in future will be strongly encouraged to have undertaken Indigenous Culture, History and Awareness training prior to commencing their secondment.

Anecdotal feedback indicates that staff are pleased that this information is easily available to them.

ON TRACK

Increase awareness of employment opportunities available in the Treasury by:

1. extending graduate recruitment activities to include the University Indigenous Units/Centres; and
2. advertising, as appropriate, in Indigenous-specific media such as Koori Mail.

Indigenous Units/Centres, where available, will be contacted prior to applications closing for the cadet and graduate positions.

Trial and evaluate the advertising of positions in Koori Mail or National Indigenous Times.

Increase in the number of Indigenous applications for employment opportunities within Treasury.

Advertising material for Treasury's 2010 graduate program and cadet positions was provided to university Indigenous unit/centres across Australia.

The Treasury Website was updated to better promote Indigenous employment opportunities. Testimonials from current cadets will be placed on the webpage in March.

The 2011 graduate program was advertised in Indigenous media in March 2010.

There was an increase in the number of applicants identifying as Indigenous who have expressed an interest in both the cadet and graduate programs.

Strategy developed and implemented.

Three to five employment offers made annually through Indigenous graduate, cadetship, traineeship or other programs (subject to availability of suitable candidates).

Strategy developed and implemented in 2009.

Three employment offers made in 2009; one through the APSC graduate process and two through the cadet process. Two offers were accepted.

Three employment offers were made in 2010; two through the cadet program and one through the Treasury graduate program. One cadet offer was accepted.

The Treasury undertook an Organisational Review in 2009 which focused on our values, including respect, fairness and diversity in order to improve staffing systems and processes. Implementing the recommendations from the Review may assist with greater recruitment and retention of Indigenous staff.

Strategy will be reviewed in 2010.

Some Indigenous applicants applying through the APSC graduate and cadet processes were seeking positions available in their local area. As such, these applicants may select other agencies due to availability of positions outside of Canberra.

Participate in APSC Indigenous graduate and cadet selection processes.

Participate in, and contribute to development of, other service-wide initiatives, particularly those which highlight the role of central policy agencies.

Offer mentoring to all Indigenous staff.

Offer career development training to all Indigenous staff.

Promote and encourage Indigenous staff to participate in APS-wide learning and development programs and opportunities including initiatives developed as part of the APS Employment and Capability Strategy.

All Indigenous cadets assigned mentors.

All staff APS 5 and above who commence outside of the graduate program are also offered a mentor.

All staff offered career development as part of the established Career Development System.

APSC sessions promoted to cadets and other Indigenous staff. Cadets participated in some sessions in 2009.

The mentoring program has received positive feedback from those who have participated.

Feedback indicates that not all sessions are offered in convenient locations for cadets to attend.