Managing Workplace Diversity: Project for BSBDIV501

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BSBDIV501 Manage workplace diversity
Assessment 2
Project
Identifying diversity issues and managing these effectively in the workplace through contemporary
initiatives and sound procedures
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Your Tasks
1. Go to the website https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/legal/legislation and identify the
purpose of the following Acts – what is covered, who does this apply to and what is the relevance
in a workplace?
 Age Discrimination Act- it is an activity which helps in identifying the talent without an age limit
and also ensures that the people should not be discriminated on the basis of their age. It is applicable
in the various areas which are related to lives of the people such as education, administration of the
programs and laws of the commonwealth, provision of services and goods, employment, etc. If any
person is facing discrimination in the workplace of any organisation on the grounds of age, the
person under the Age Discrimination Act can take steps against that organisation legally (Baird, et.
al., 2012). This act can also help the organisation to identify talented employees for the benefit of the
organisation.
 Disability Discrimination Act- this act was implemented in the year 1992 and the main objective of
this act is to protect the persons with discrimination in terms of their disabilities. The persons with
disability have to face much discrimination on the grounds of their disability and this act helps in
eliminating those discriminations. This act also promotes acceptance to the community that the
disabled people are also a part of the society (Barclay, et. al., 2012). In the workplace when someone
is discriminated on the basis of its disability, a legal step can be taken by that person against the
person or the organisation who discriminated the disabled person.
 Racial Discrimination Act- this act ensures the elimination of discriminations of all forms of
racism. Many people have to face discrimination on the basis of racism and could not able to
promote themselves in the world. This act helps those needy people who face discrimination on a
daily basis on the grounds of racism. The main aim of this act is to promote and provide equality to
all people before the law regardless of their ethnic origin, nationality, colour, and race. Through this
act any person who faces discrimination on the basis of racism can take legal steps against
discriminator. This act has been proved to help many people who were going through racial
discrimination.
 Sex Discrimination Act- this act helps to eliminate discrimination on the grounds of sex. Women
have to go through much discrimination because of their gender. They are considered to be less
productive in front of men and are also demotivated by the men. This act promotes equality among
all, women and men and also eliminates discriminations on the basis of sex. This act also covers
discrimination against women who are pregnant, married, responsibilities, etc. Women in the
workplace can take legal steps against the organisation if any discrimination is faced by them on the
grounds of gender (Ineson, et. al., 2013).
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 Australian Human Rights Commission Act- this act is also called the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission Act 1986. This act protects the rights of the people of Australia and covers
the acts such as Convent Concerning Discrimination in Respect of occupation and employment,
convention on the rights of the child and persons with disabilities, international covenant on political
and civil rights, declaration on the rights of the child, mentally retarded persons, disabled persons,
elimination of all forms of discrimination on the grounds of belief or religion, etc. The Australian
Human Rights Commission Act helps the employees in the workforce to work efficiently and if
discriminated can take steps legally.
2. Current projects that have been implemented as part of the national strategies for each of the
following acts can be found in the relevant areas of www.humanrights.gov.au. Review these
current projects and analyse the key factors and campaigns which would be beneficial and could
be adapted for managing a diverse workplace. Which potential benefits for a workplace can you
find in each of these projects?
 Age Discrimination Act- A quality research has been done on the age discrimination act’s
improvement. The commissioner of the Age Discrimination, Susan Ryan and Senator Eric Abetz, the
employment minister had launched a campaign named Power Of Oldness, in which the importance
of the strengths and skills of nature workers was highlighted and also how it will be beneficial for the
employers and organisation has been mentioned (Boone James, et. al., 2013). Their main purpose for
organising this campaign was to complain about the discriminations which are faced by the old age
people when they try to maintain and gain jobs. This act will help the organisations to know the
importance of experienced employees in the organisation.
 Disability Discrimination Act- A national consultation was conducted by Alastair McEwin, the
disability discrimination commissioner between October 2016 and March 2017, to take help in the
improvement on the rights of the persons with disability. The consultation's main purpose was to
focus on and prioritise the rights of the persons with disability. When the commissioner of disability
discrimination met with the people in the regional centres and capital cities he received 85 written
submissions on the discrimination they faced because of their disabilities. For his term, the
commissioner of the disability discrimination had set the priorities as the criminal justice system,
violence, housing, employment, education, and National Disability insurance scheme’s
implementation. Through this improvement in the act, the employees for the company can be
selected on the basis of their talent and people with disability can feel a state of equality in the
workplace.
 Racial Discrimination Act- This act helps in the elimination of the discriminations on the basis of
racism. Under section 18C and 18D are the sections to deal with the racial vilification. Exemptions
have been decided of Racial Discrimination Act under section 18D that ensures academic inquiry,
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scientific inquiry, artistic works, and the comments which are fair on the matters of public interests
are exempted only if done with good faith and fairly reasons have been provided (Triana, et. al.,
2015). The Racial Discrimination Act offers a remedy which is civil and does not consider racial
vilification as a criminal offence. If the court finds that the act has been contravention, the court may
order the guilty with a correction or an apology or it can also make the award on damages of
monetary. This can reduce the racial discrimination in the workplace and can increase the positive
relationship between the workers which help in the growth of an organisation more.
 Sex Discrimination Act- A toolkit has been developed by the commission of sex discrimination
which helps interested groups or individuals within the workplace of Australia, groups, and
communities in facilitating conversations that will inform for the national inquiry. This toolkit can be
used by anyone to facilitate conversation among a group of friends, at the workplace, and in an
organisation’s communities. A national survey was conducted by the sex discrimination commission
between April and June 2018 to investigate nature, reporting and prevalence of sexual harassment in
the communities and workplace of Australia more widely and broadly (Chapple and Humphrey,
2014). This can make people aware of the steps they can take in order to reduce sex discrimination in
the workplace and communities also.
3. Choose 1 of the following options:
a) Review your existing diversity policy in the workplace (if one exists) and compare what is
included in what should be included. Identify what is potentially lacking and which of the
aspects you have researched could be included
Diversity in the workplace includes difference belief, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender, cultural
background, religion, experience, perspective, family status, and physical abilities among the employees
of the organisation. It can also be referred to as the different ways of working and thinking (Chrobot-
Mason and Aramovich, 2013).
Wesfarmers is very active in building and maintaining an inclusive environment in the workplace.
Wesfarmers harnesses and also promote the power of the diversity experience and thought in the
working force of the company. Diversity in the workforce of the Wesfarmers helps them to fulfil the
needs of the customers of the company and also deliver the best to the shareholders of the company. The
diversity in the workforce of the Wesfarmers is through extended to all the individuals but the main
focus of the Wesfarmers is particularly to build a more gender-balanced workforce and also indigenous
representation. The diversity policy has been made by the Wesfarmers in order to foster diversity by
implementing and developing this policy at all the levels across the group. The existing policy for the
diversity in the workforce of the Wesfarmers is ‘Gender Diversity policy’.
Gender Diversity policy of Wesfarmers
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Purpose: the purpose of this policy is to foster and manage gender diversity at every level of the groups of
Wesfarmers.
Application of the policy: the principles of the gender diversity policy must comply with corporate policies
or procedures of the office, or business unit or it can be incorporated into divisions of these.
Policy: the management team of the Wesfarmers and Wesfarmers board is responsible for developing and
managing the strategies which will help in achieving the objective of the gender diversity group within the
workforce of the company (Patrick and Kumar, 2012). Measurable objectives of the gender diversity policy
are as follows.
 For upholding the central principle of meritocracy, foster is needed in the inclusive culture and both
women and men are needed to participate in the fostering.
 Talent management and improvement.
 Recruitment practices are needed to be improved.
 Pay equity among the workforce is to be ensured.
The board of the Wesfarmers is needed to do two things annually which are:
 They need to set targets for the representation of gender.
 The measurable objectives are needed to be assessed which are set by the board and identify what is
needed to improve for achieving the gender representation.
Division or business unit has the responsibilities to:
 Enhance the progress in the gender representation objectives which are set by the board of
Wesfarmers within their unit of business or division unit.
 To provide a report time-to-time and which is transparent.
 An update in every six months which will help in the progress of the targets set by the board of
Wesfarmers on the gender representation.
The diversity policy of the Wesfarmers is a very good policy but it has some defaults in it which are needed
to be improved. The board of Wesfarmers should organise a diversity policy for managing employees from
the different cultural background and have different belief and also need to acknowledge innovative ideas
suggested by the employees which may help in the improvement of the workforce’s productivity.
4. Develop a bullying/harassment policy that can be used in your workplace. The policy needs to
include:
(You may access and reference you state WHS legislation or Fairwork for specific requirements in
your state and the following link provides a checklist: Bullying Policy Checklist for employers page
- Comcare)
The legal requirements set out by law- Under the law of anti-discrimination, if the particular attributes of a
person such as disability, gender, sexual orientation, or age are treated unfavourably is an unlawful activity.
If someone has been treated in the mentioned unlawful ways can be considered as bullied or harassed and
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actions of unlawful activities could be taken in favour of the person's rights. In state and federal statutes, the
workplace anti-discrimination law has been set up. There are provisions of the specific legal laws for the
harassment on the grounds of disability, racial, and sex. There are many acts for bullying and harassment,
some of them are:
1. Disability Discrimination Act 1992- Act against the discrimination on the grounds of disability of
a person.
2. Racial Discrimination Act 1975- Act against the discrimination on the ground of racism.
3. Sex Discrimination Act 1984- Act against the discrimination on the grounds of sex.
4. Fair Work Amendment Act 2013- Act against bullying in society.
Examples of what is defined as bullying and harassment and what is not- Bullying in the workforce and
society has include behaviour of different range such as:
1. The offensive language used against a person. It also includes screaming and yelling.
2. Employees’ exclusion or isolation.
3. Harassing someone psychologically.
4. Intimidation
Harassment in the society or the workplace include:
1. Insulting jokes on racial groups
2. Commenting negatively on the basis of caste or colour.
3. Commenting or taunting someone for its disability.
4. Promoting offensive racial posters on the screen savers.
Examples which are not as bullying or harassment:
1. Actions are taken for reasonable management and are carried in the fairway.
2. Allocation of work to the employees within the workforce with transparency.
3. Processes of managing performances of the employees.
4. Fairly allocating the employees their working hours.
5. Restructuring or changes are to be implemented in the organisation.
6. For a reasonable and legitimate process of the organisation and need, employees to be transferred for
the implementation of the process.
A clear statement that will outline the processes and procedures to be followed in case of any incident
including the stages of informal and formal procedures- All the members of the organisation have the
rights to work in an environment which is free from harassment and bullying and where they are treated well
with respect and dignity.
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A statement regarding how you will implement this policy in the workplace and ensure that staffs are
trained and aware on an ongoing basis, as part of an integrated consultation process- This policy is
very good for maintaining a good working environment in the workplace. If the policy is implemented
perfectly can make a major impact in the improvement of the productivity level within the workforce and in
overall, it will result in the growth of the organisation in a more rapid way. For the implementation of the
policy every member of the organisation is needed to contribute to this. This policy will surely make a
positive impact on the workforce.
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References
 Baird, M., Williamson, S. and Heron, A., 2012. Women, work and policy settings in Australia in
2011. Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(3), pp.326-343.
 Barclay, L.A., Markel, K.S. and Yugo, J.E., 2012. Virtue theory and organisations: considering
persons with disabilities. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27(4), pp.330-346.
 Boone James, J., McKechnie, S., Swanberg, J. and Besen, E., 2013. Exploring the workplace
impact of intentional/unintentional age discrimination. Journal of Managerial
Psychology, 28(7/8), pp.907-927.
 Chapple, L. and Humphrey, J.E., 2014. Does board gender diversity have a financial impact?
Evidence using stock portfolio performance. Journal of business ethics, 122(4), pp.709-723.
 Chrobot-Mason, D. and Aramovich, N.P., 2013. The psychological benefits of creating an
affirming climate for workplace diversity. Group & Organization Management, 38(6), pp.659-
689.
 Ineson, E.M., Yap, M.H. and Whiting, G., 2013. Sexual discrimination and harassment in the
hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 35, pp.1-9.
 Patrick, H.A. and Kumar, V.R., 2012. Managing workplace diversity: Issues and
challenges. Sage Open, 2(2), p.2158244012444615.
 Triana, M.D.C., Jayasinghe, M. and Pieper, J.R., 2015. Perceived workplace racial discrimination
and its correlates: A meta‐analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(4), pp.491-513.
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