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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-22 Daily Xml
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Workplace Cultural Diversity

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (15:04): My question is to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. How is the Malinauskas government promoting cultural diversity in South Australian workplaces?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:04): I thank the member for Waite for the question and their ongoing interest in making South Australia more inclusive and a culturally aware place to live, work and thrive.

The Malinauskas Labor government is committed to strengthening our economy and society to utilise the broad skill set, talents and experiences of our multicultural communities. Our policies are for the future and they are already paying off. It was no mistake that South Australia's economy under the Malinauskas Labor government has been ranked number one in the nation for the first time ever.

Overseas born migrants have consistently made up approximately 25 per cent of our state's population, with South Australians coming from 200 different countries and speaking 180 languages. They bring with them an array of skills, experiences and talents.

Last year, the Premier and I tabled the South Australian Multicultural Charter. The charter has now been translated into more than 30 languages and contains six principles to promote a harmonious and inclusive community.

Organisations, no matter the size, are encouraged to adopt the charter's principles, but we know that leaders from various sectors must demonstrate how they are best practice. That is why it was an honour to recently launch our Ambassador Program pilot. The Ambassador Program was part of our election commitments in a very detailed policy, a multicultural policy, that we took to the South Australian people.

The Ambassador Program activates the charter and embeds its principles into the service delivery, workforce and practices of five well-respected organisations in South Australia. I am pleased to share with the chamber that a number of prominent organisations, including the Cancer Council South Australia, the City of West Torrens, the RAA group, Mitsubishi Motors South Australia and PKF Adelaide have embraced this pilot program.

It progresses the charter from a document to a way of doing business. All five organisations are undergoing their own journey, involving a self-assessment of their cultural inclusivity and competency, which was followed by our first activation session.

I would like to thank the City of West Torrens for hosting the first session, as well as the Multicultural Communities Council of SA for sharing Cultural Q, an intercultural training and development program. Our first activation session was a success and we are already working on the next. I look forward to working with these organisations to demonstrate how its principles can be adopted more broadly across South Australia.

Can I just say how pleased I was that these very diverse organisations were very keen to not just look at the diversity of their current workforce but to look towards the future. With one of the lowest unemployment rates we have seen in my lifetime, there is a global hunt for talent. Are we maximising those who are already here? How are we embracing them? How are we supporting them in their progression in the workplace?

We are going to continue to work side-by-side with organisations to support them to be more inclusive and culturally aware. We know the talents and experiences we have in South Australia, and that diversity of talent will only strengthen our economy in the future.

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