Diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of the Public Service. It’s more than just a ‘nice to have’; it’s essential to providing better policies and services to improve the lives of all New Zealanders. We’ve made good progress, but we know there’s more to do. We are redoubling our efforts to meet our goals and aspirations of a Public Service that will be unified, reflective of, and responsive to our communities, now and into the future. Our Public Service legislation strengthens and supports our diversity and inclusion commitments. The legislation explicitly requires chief executives to pursue fairness and diversity and to foster a workplace that is inclusive for all. Our Public Service aims to be an exemplar employer. We want all our people and the people that we work with, and for, to feel valued, supported and respected. And we want our Public Service to reflect, value and understand the communities we are here to serve in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Papa Pounamu sets the diversity and inclusion work programme for the wider public sector. The work programme is designed to help our public service achieve our diversity and inclusion goals and obligations. Papa Pounamu is led by two senior chief executives who are also the Functional Leads for Diversity and Inclusion in the Public Service. For more information on Papa Pounamu and their work follow the link to Papa Pounamu – driving diversity and inclusion across the Public Service.
There is a range of resources and tools to help agencies to address bias and build inclusion. This includes guidance and advice on meeting the diversity and inclusion Papa Pounamu requirements and the Gender Pay Gap Action Plan milestones. For more information on these tools and resources and how they work together see Addressing Bias and Building Inclusion navigation map.
As a first step towards formally understanding our broader Public Service rainbow community, the WeCount 2019 survey was developed and implemented by the then State Services Commission and the Cross-Agency Rainbow Network (CARN). For more information on the work, survey and findings, follow the link to Inclusion and our Rainbow Public Service.
Getting peoples’ pronouns and names right is one way to make our workplaces and delivery of services more respectful and inclusive. We acknowledge the impact that using pronouns in email signatures, on LinkedIn or in introductory meetings has on making more respectful and inclusive environments for everyone. For more information on how to use pronouns correctly and how to add them to your email signature follow the link to ‘Pronoun use in email signatures’.
Collecting data about disabled colleagues helps us understand and meet people’s differing needs in the workplace, helping ensure our workplaces are inclusive and equitable. Consistent and quality data collection helps agencies and the system track progress over time, contributing to a greater understanding of the total workforce, so we continue to value, reflect and understand the communities we serve. In consultation with disabled people, Public Service agencies and the Heads of HR working group, the Commission developed guidance for collecting disability information on the Public Service workforce. For more information follow the link to Information Standards and Guidance.
As part of our work towards ensuring a more diverse and inclusive Public Sector, we have developed a number of resources, often in collaboration with others.
These resources include:
This toolkit has been developed by the Mental Health Foundation with support from the Commission and other Public Sector agencies. It aims to improve the capability of agencies when it comes to working with mental health issues.
We lead a diversity and inclusion community of practice to connect, innovate and co-create with D&I practitioners and responsible leads from core public service agencies. Our members have a critical role in advancing initiatives that make tangible progress towards inclusion in their respective agencies and across the Public Service. The community of practice is a space for our members to collaborate, share resources and ideas, celebrate successes, recognise challenges and find ways to overcome system challenges together. For further information please contact us at DiversityandInclusion@publicservice.govt.nz
We partner with a range of lead agencies from across the Public Sector to progress our work on diversity and inclusion:
This webpage will develop over time as our work on diversity and inclusion in the Public Service progresses.
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