GSD3DAW Assignment 2: Diversity at Work Policy Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of workplace diversity, focusing on the issue of discrimination in Australian organizations. The analysis centers on the Lifeline Australia Diversity Policy (LADP) and its effectiveness in addressing discrimination based on factors such as gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. The report utilizes the Bacchi WPR framework to evaluate the policy, addressing questions about the problem representation, underlying assumptions, and the effects of the policy. It examines past initiatives, gaps in current policies, and the need for stricter penalties and awareness programs. The study highlights the impact of discrimination on employees' well-being and productivity, and it offers recommendations for improving the LADP and promoting a more inclusive workplace environment. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of government intervention, employee awareness, and transparent company practices to ensure effective implementation of diversity policies and protect employee rights. This report emphasizes the importance of government intervention, employee awareness, and transparent company practices to ensure effective implementation of diversity policies and protect employee rights.

Running Head: DIVERSITY AT WORK 0
Diversity at Work
Institutional Policies or Policy Statements
Student Name:
Student University:

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Discrimination in the workplace is the issue of public concern that affects a diverse range of
stakeholders. This issue has been a part of an on-going political debate and the government
has introduced many policies to address this issue. These policies are targeted towards
recognizing individual differences and their value in the workplace (Pearl, 2018). This issue
is important because diversity is becoming a major part in Australian organisations and
discrimination among workers negatively affects their physical and mental wellbeing.
Companies are focusing on finding new ways to manage workplace diversity to make sure
that they did not discriminate between employees in terms of their gender, sexual orientation,
religious belief, ethnicity, age, colour, caste, cultural background or other individual factors
(Francoeur, et al., 2019). The purpose of this essay is to analyse a policy titles “Lifeline
Australia Diversity Policy” by using “Bacchi WPR” framework. Major questions that will be
addressed in this essay include whether this policy is suitable to address the issue of
discrimination in the workplace and whether there is a requirement of further changes to
resolve this problem. This essay will include the summary of past policy initiatives that were
taken in order to address this issue and evaluate the effectiveness of current policy.
Workplace diversity means valuing and respecting individual differences among all staff
members in a workplace while being responsive to specific challenges faced by particular
groups. A diverse workforce assists in better delivery of outcomes and understanding the
impact of changing business environment that contributes to the growth of an organisation
(Cletus, et al., 2018). However, discrimination in the workplace is the major issue that is
affecting Australian organisations along with their stakeholders. Individuals are facing
discrimination in terms of their gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, age,
colour, caste, and cultural background. In Australia, 47.4 per cent employees are women and
they face a number of challenges in relation to discrimination in the workplace. For example,
women employees face discrimination in terms of their salaries since full time women

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employees earn 13.9 per cent less salary than compared to male employees (WGEA, 2020).
The gender pay gap is a major issue in Australia which is a direct result of workplace
discrimination. Employees who belong to minorities also face discrimination in the
workplace such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, South Sea Islanders, Jews, Chinese,
Italians and others. Rights of employees who belong from these minorities are not protected
as compared to employees who belong from majorities group. They face mental as well as
physical challenges in the workplace as a result of discrimination which hinders their
professional and personal groups (Ghabrial, 2017). Various initiatives are introduced by the
government to address this challenge to make sure that interests of various stakeholders are
protected.
The government of Australia has introduced “Government-wide Inclusive Diversity Strategic
Plan 2016” which is a federal program that is focused on providing equal opportunities to all
employees. As per this plan, the government aims to recognise the rights of employees
allowing them to eliminate any activities or behaviours which led to discrimination in the
workplace (OPM, 2016). This strategy fosters diversity in different stages of employee
lifecycle to make sure that employee feel valued and a sense of belongingness. Various legal
policies are also introduced in Australia such as Age Discrimination Act, Fair Work Act,
Disability Discrimination Act and others. These policies enforced employers to make sure
that did not take any actions that lead to causing discrimination among employees and they
also recognise rights of employees to protect their interests by filing lawsuits if they face
discrimination in the workplace. These are some of the past initiatives which are taken by the
government in order to reduce the issue of discrimination in the workplace (Fair Work,
2020). However, there are many gaps in these policies which are necessary to be addressed in
order to make sure that companies are enforced to promote and managed diversity in the
workplace while eliminating discrimination based on individual differences.

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The government introduced “Lifeline Australia Diversity Policy (LADP)” in order to fill the
gap in the current anti-discrimination policy in the country to promote positive workplace
environment that did not reinforce discrimination at any cost (Losoncz, 2017). It can be
understood by the application of “Bacchi WPR” theory which is referred to a user-friendly
tool that consists of several interrelated questions for policy analysis. The first question
focuses on identifying the problem which is represented in a specific policy. The problem
with LADP is that it does not introduced strict laws to enforce company to address the
problem of discrimination in the workplace and did not specify guidelines that are targeted
towards workplace diversity (Dreamson, 2018). The application and scope of this policy is
limited as well which makes it difficult for the government to apply consistent laws across
the nation. The second question focuses on identifying deep-seated assumption that is
underlined in the problem identified in the policy. Some of the deep-seated assumptions
relating to the discrimination in the workplace include a common misbelief that employees
have to go through this behaviour by dealing with their top level management or colleagues
(Gold, 2019). It is also assumed that employees cannot take any action against this behaviour
and they are supposed to continue without taking any action.
This is especially the case with female employees that face sexual harassment and another
form of discrimination because of the gender; it is also a common believe that female
employees work less than compared to male employees and they take more leaves, benefits
and accommodation than compared to male employees. As a result of this misbelief,
companies employ female workers at lower salary for doing the same job as compared to
male employees which has created the issue of gender pay gap in Australia (Daigle &
Myrttinen, 2018). The third question is to identifying the representation of the underlining
problems in the policy. In the case of discrimination in the workplace, this issue is
represented throughout the policy to make sure that different areas are covered that did not

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support diversity in the workplace. The policy relating to promoting the role of women in the
workplace and in executive position is included in this policy along with the promotion of
indigenous people in the workforce (Whyte, et al., 2018). The policy strictly prohibits
discrimination in terms of gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, age, colour,
caste, cultural background or other individual factors between employees. The fourth
question focuses on identifying the unproblematic area of the problem along with silences
and whether the problem is differently conceptualized in the policy. In the case of LADP, the
key unproblematic areas which are left unrepresented include implementation of stricter
policies on companies that violate these provisions (Riley, 2018). There are particular
silences in the policy as well such as lack of representation of rights of particular minorities
and their ability to enforce their rights on their organisations.
The problem of ‘discrimination in the workplace’ can be conceptualised differently if the
policy makers can emphasised on the rights of individuals while implanting this policy and
they should make it easier for victims to file lawsuits for violation of their rights. The fifth
question of Bacchi WPR focuses on identifying the effects that are a result of presentation of
the problem in the policy. In the case of LADP, the policy has represented “discrimination”
as a social evil and it has recognized the rights of employees against discrimination in the
workplace (Steinmetz, 2019). There are many positive effects of this policy as it has become
easier for employees to make sure that they enforce their employers to comply with diversity
policies and they are able to enforce them to compensate them if they discriminate with them
in terms of individual differences. The discursive effects of this policy is that people are
discussing about discrimination which is making them more aware regarding their rights and
how they can protect them in the workplace (Kong & Jolly, 2019).
Subjectification effects of this policy is that people are considering discrimination as a social
evil and they are able to recognise their rights against their employers to ensure that they did

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not violate or misuse them in the workplace. Lastly, the lived effects of this policy include
positive impact on the lives of employees working in Australia since they are able to
recognise their rights against discrimination and it also provides a platform to employees
belonging from minorities to ensure that they did not face challenges in the workplace
(Burston, 2019). The sixth question analysis how and where the problem is represented,
disseminated, defended and produced, and how it can be replaced or disrupted. In the case of
LADP, the policy has introduced different ways through which individuals can defend
themselves from the problem of discrimination in the workplace by recognizing their rights
(Mizock & Hopwood, 2018). This problem can be replaced or disrupted by introduction of
stricter laws that enforces companies to eliminate individual differences between their
employees.
Based on the above observations, it can be concluded that discrimination in the workplace is
a key challenge in Australia that is negatively affecting both employers and employees. The
rights of employees are violated as a result of discrimination and it also limits creativity and
innovation in the workplace. The Australian Government has introduced LADP in order to
address the issue of discrimination by introducing different guidelines and policies which
companies have to follow to make sure that they did not discriminate in terms of individual
differences between their employees. Previously, the government has introduced many
initiatives and legislation to tackle this issue; however, there are many gaps in these
provisions which ultimately led to long fulfilment of these goals. Based on the Bacchi WPR
theory, different problems relating to this policy are identified along with underlined
assumptions which people made regarding this issue. This theory is used to determine
whether the policy is sufficient to address the problem of discrimination along with
evaluation of its effects on different areas on companies operating in Australia. Following are

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different recommendations which can assist in improving the overall impact of this policy in
addressing the challenge of discrimination in the workplace.
The government should introduce stricter penalties for companies that violate the guidelines
which are imposed by LADP to make sure that companies and their executives avoid
breaching these policies. Awareness should be spread in smaller companies and individuals
that belong from minorities to make sure that they recognise their rights which are given in
this policy. Federal government should apply these guidelines on a national level and fast
track lawsuit resolution methods should be introduced to make sure that employees are able
to get compensation in an efficient manner. Lastly, reporting policies should also be
introduced for companies to make sure that they make public announcements regarding the
actions taken by them to promote diversity in the workplace. These recommendations will
promote transparency in the operations of companies to make sure that they did not violate
the guidelines of this policy and they are able to promote diversity in the workplace.

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