Appendix 15 - Ethnic Affairs Achievements and EEO

The Department’s Statement of Corporate Values identifies the provision of quality services and information to our clients as our most important priority. Over the last twelve months, our ethnic affairs programs have expanded in order to improve the service we provide to the whole of the community.


Achievements in 1998/1999:

• The Department has developed an Ethnic Affairs Priority Statement (EAPS) which consists of seven initiatives and demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that the whole of the community can access our services. An Ethnic Affairs Priorities Statement Implementation Team comprising key staff in the Department has been established to assist with the implementation of the EAPS. The aim of the implementation team is to heighten awareness of the EAPS, facilitate discussion of related issues and encourage a collaborative approach from our business units to the continuous improvement of client service.
• Ethnic community consultation processes were increased throughout the Department, in particular with the involvement of community groups within Local Courts User Groups, anti-racism working groups within the Anti-Discrimination Board and the establishment of a Customer Council for the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The Violence Against Women Specialist Unit facilitated forums for Migrant Women in the Hunter Region. The information gathered led to revised guidelines for cultural inclusiveness.
• A Minimum Standard Statement for service access for our clients from ethnic, racial and ethno-religious minority groups as been developed. Initiatives will be progressively implemented across the Department.
• A network of staff volunteers from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) has been formed in Local Courts to assist in developing strategies to improve client access to information and services. The network also aims to develop the skills of NESB staff and assist them to have direct input into service provision strategies to meet the needs of NESB clients.
• A self assessment of Ethnic Affairs was conducted based on the Standards Framework provided by Ethnic Affairs Commission (EAC). The self assessment has identified areas of improvement for the Department.
• The Quarter Way to Equal (QWTE) Task Force Report is in the final stages of completion. The inter-agency task force to oversee recommendations of the QWTE report was established in 1997 and comprised representatives from private, government and community legal service providers. The Task Force progressed the development of a training program on legal issues for a specialist group of interpreters and fostered an inter-agency partnership to share and update referral information on legal service provision for migrant women.
• It is anticipated that the ‘legal issues for interpreters’ training program, jointly funded by the EAC and the Attorney General’s Department will commence in the next financial year. The target is to train 150 interpreters per annum over three years.
• The Department acknowledges and utilises the skills of its diverse workforce through participation in the Community Language Allowance Scheme (CLAS). A major review of the scheme was undertaken and guidelines for the payment and implementation of CLAS developed and distributed to all business units. The scheme continues to be promoted throughout the Department which currently has more than 60 CLAS recipients who speak a total of 19 community languages.
• Memorandums of Understanding have been signed and implemented by the Department and the EAC. As a consequence, the EAC has expanded booking arrangements and access to “free” interpreters for clients. This initiative is part of the recommendations included in the “Report on the Fairfield Courts Community Access Project (Fairfield Report)” which was jointly funded by the Attorney General’s Department and the EAC.
• The “Language Link” resource kit is available in every workplace to assist client service staff in the delivery of culturally appropriate services. The kit contains a multi-lingual language identification chart, guidelines on how to access and use various interpreter and translation services, information on naming identification systems of various ethnic groups and details of referral agencies.
• A Multilingual Advice Sheet has been developed which is attached to court documents and provides advice in ten community languages. The information sheet states that if the reader does not understand the legal document they should seek legal advice or the assistance of an interpreter.
• The EAC’s Language Services customer information book, detailing the new 24 hour telephone interpreter service, was distributed to all business units.
• The Department gains an insight into the needs of our clients from racial, ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups through participation in the EAC’s Customer Council.
• Consultation with the EAC also aided the development of the Crime Prevention Division’s draft Strategy for Preventing Young People’s Participation in Crime.
• The Anti-Discrimination Board’s Ethnic Outreach Program facilitates consultation with ethnic community representatives on a quarterly basis. Ethnic communities can access information on discrimination, harassment, law and policy reforms, and are invited to provide feedback on the Anti-Discrimination Board’s services.
• Community Justice Centres continued to provide mediation services in 14 community languages.
• A Client Services Consultant is located in the Corporate Development and Training Unit to provide a training and development consultancy service aimed at increasing the ability of our staff to provide quality client service.
• A Client Service Project Officer is located within Local Courts to develop strategies that will further improve access to services in Local Courts.
• The Department continued to provide training to assist staff to improve service delivery to clients from NESB. This included a two day Cross Cultural Communication Skills Workshop – Working with Clients from NESB offered as part of the general training program and customised courses for Sheriff’s Officers. Cultural diversity issues were also included in the Department’s Client Service course, and incorporated in training conducted for Spokeswomen, Public Defenders and the Violence Against Women Regional Specialists.
• A Local Courts Cultural Diversity Resource Kit was incorporated into the Client Service Skills manual provided to participants who attended the Client Service Skills Training for Local Courts’ staff.
• To increase the availability of qualified cultural diversity trainers the Department organised a Graduate Certificate in Cultural Diversity Methods training program in collaboration with the Australian Catholic University. This program, delivered over eight weeks, was evaluated very positively by course participants. Since completing the program a number of participants have successfully organised, developed and or delivered cultural diversity training.
• The Department’s Ethnic Affairs Policies and Programs factsheet has been revised in accordance with changes to ethnic affairs legislation. The factsheet has been included in the Department’s Staff Manual, Induction Package and in all recruitment packages.
• A Departmental Publications Policy and Guidelines document developed earlier this year highlights the need for information to be communicated in plain language. The policy suggests that departmental publications should include information regarding Telephone Interpreter Services in community languages. It also includes advice regarding the translation of documents into community languages.
• The Department’s World Wide Web site also has information in languages other than English for certain agencies. In particular, the Anti-Discrimination Board site includes information in 23 community languages.
• The Crime Prevention Division has developed a “Youth and Parent” publication and Internet page that represents the perspectives of young people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
• The Department’s Recruitment and Selection policy was revised earlier this year. The policy stresses the need for merit based recruitment which will result in a workforce that reflects the diversity of the community we serve. It also encourages advertising of vacant positions in ethnic and ATSI media.
• The Department’s “Selection Techniques” training courses have been revised to reflect the new policy.

• The progressive implementation of Minimum Client Service Standards for all key client service business units. This initiative includes strategies that address service access and equity for our clients from ethnic, racial and ethno-religious minority groups.
• All key client service business units’ business plans to include strategies that address Ethnic Affairs issues, including client service access, collection of demographic data, consultation with ethnic communities, culturally and linguistically appropriate information strategies, cross-cultural training and flexible work practices.
• Encourage ethnic community participation in departmental consultation processes in order to develop and implement services targeted to the needs of ethnic communities. Initiatives include: networking with key ethnic community service providers on issues affecting immigrant communities; having an ethnic community representative on the Victims of Crime Advisory Board; continuing the consultation process with Local Courts through representation on Local Courts User Groups; and the establishment of a Customer Council for the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
• Develop our staff and involve them in the implementation of cross-cultural service delivery initiatives. These initiatives include: continuing of the Ethnic Affairs Priorities Statement Implementation Team to facilitate the coordination of the Ethnic Affairs Priorities Statement and to monitor progress of identified initiatives; continuing the promotion and presentation of the Department’s Cross-Cultural Communication and Producing Client-Friendly Publications training courses for all staff in front-line positions; and ensuring the appropriate use of accredited interpreters, translators and CLAS recipients.
• Develop resources to facilitate improved cross-cultural communication, including the delivery and evaluation of relevant anti-discrimination training, the promotion and availability of information on the LawLink website in community languages and multilingual printed information available in key client service areas.
• Actively promote the Department’s court and human rights services to specific ethnic communities, including facilitating community forums and seminar programs to address issues directly relevant to ethnic communities; continuing to revise, reprint and distribute information brochures in plain English and community languages; enhancing the LawLink website to include more multilingual information; participating in key community festivals and events attended by people from non-English speaking backgrounds; and recruiting mediators that reflect the demographics of the Local Government Area.
• Promote awareness of the availability of interpreter services for our clients through initiatives such as: brochures advising clients that complaints lodged in languages other than English will be addressed; use of agency letterhead including reverse side multilingual advice that interpreter assistance is available; expanding multilingual signage in reception areas promoting availability of interpreter assistance; continuing to promote, monitor and review the Department’s Community Language Allowance Scheme; and requesting a review by the EAC of “Fee Exemption Guidelines for Interpreters” to include the parents/guardians of young people as fee exempt for cases before the Children’s Court.
• Foster a collaborative approach to client service initiatives between Attorney General’s business units and other justice related agencies by: finalising the Ethnic Affairs Agreement between Local Courts, NSW Police and the EAC for direct booking of interpreters by police for first time court appearances; liaising with like agencies to share multilingual information and translations; conducting a training program, jointly funded by the Ethnic Affairs Commission and the Department to train 150 interpreters per year over the next three years; and participating in an inter-agency forum for legal and justice departments facilitated by the EAC.
• Design and streamline systems to capture data regarding usage of the Department’s services by our clients from racial, ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups in order to profile community usage of our services in light of NSW demographics and develop strategies to address service delivery gaps.

In addition to the above ethnic affairs initiatives, during 1998/99 the Attorney General’s Department entered into an Ethnic Affairs Agreement between Local Courts, the NSW Police and the EAC for ‘Direct Booking’ of interpreters for first court appearances.

The Agreement has been finalised and is due to commence on 1 June 1999. Implementation action requires the Police Service to modify the COPS system and revise the charge sheet format.

The next steps of the Agreement are for Local Courts to develop an enhanced interpreter booking and recording system. This system will allow courts to make more efficient use of interpreter resources through block bookings and multiple listing of matters requiring a common language interpreter. It will also provide an enhanced level of interpreter usage data, allowing planning processes to respond to identified demands and client needs.

It is anticipated that the Agreement will be ongoing until the outcomes are achieved.

During 1998/99 the Attorney General’s Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the EAC to develop and conduct a specialist training program for EAC interpreters on aspects of the NSW court and tribunal system.

The Memorandum is the result of the recommendations of the Quarter Way to Equal Report, which revealed a need for interpreters in courts to have a better understanding of legal processes, language and procedures.

The Quarter Way to Equal Report identified a number of ways in which court services could be made more accessible to women whose first language is not English.

This joint initiative aims to improve the quality of interpreter services in NSW courts.

To date the EAC and the Department have established a joint working party to progress the development of a program. The working party has overseen the development of tender specifications, an Expressions of Interest process and the calling of Selected Tenders.

The next step is to select a training provider.

It is anticipated that subject to the appointment of an appropriate training provider, a pilot training program will commence during this financial year.

A detailed report on all the Department’s Ethnic Affairs initiatives and planning is published in the Ethnic Affairs Priorities Statement Report.


STAFF NUMBERS AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As at 30 June 1999 there were 3,414 employees, excluding statutory appointees, casual and ministerial staff. The response rate to the EEO Survey was 80 per cent.