Creating Culture in the Workplace: Increasing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Leadership in the Australian Public Service

By Afeeya Akhand, The University of Sydney, , IMF and World Bank Annual Summit, 2022

Afeeya is studying a Master of International Security at the University of Sydney. Her policy paper focuses on Increasing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Leadership in the Australian Public Service.

Executive Summary

As the sector serving the public interest, the Australian Public Service (APS) should reflect the broader community including Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Australians. 1 However, CALD employees are overrepresented at lower APS classification levels and underrepresented at higher levels including in the Senior Executive Service (SES). CALD leadership brings numerous benefits to the APS, including increased intercultural and linguistic expertise and enhanced retention of CALD staff. Therefore, this policy paper makes two recommendations to further CALD leadership within the SES Band level. First, a whole-of-APS CALD target for SES roles should be implemented, and second, an agency level sponsorship program for high-performing Executive Level (EL) staff from CALD backgrounds should be created.

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