Plan overview

DCS focus on excellence for customers

The DCS Multicultural Plan is focused on our staff and customers. Across DCS, our staff work hard to make sure our customers: 

• receive the best services 
• use the best products
• are treated fairly
• are kept safe.

As a key cohort of customers, multicultural communities continue to be a priority for DCS.  

This Plan outlines our commitment to making sure that we continue to deliver and improve on the products and services we provide for our multicultural communities.

Multicultural communities are incredibly diverse, and their needs differ from other cohorts. It is important that we take the time to understand and address those needs and continue to work with these communities to provide excellent customer service that meets their needs.

Consultation

This Plan is informed by consultation with various parts of our multicultural community, from staff to community leaders and community organisations. Consultation included surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Actions are informed by the feedback and are assigned to divisions within our cluster to implement over the next two years. The feedback and actions are grouped under the four key areas of the MPSP: Leadership, Engagement, Planning, and Service Delivery. 

NSW public service commission 

Earlier this year, The NSW public service commission (PSC) began consultation with the NSW Public Sector on ways to increase cultural diversity in senior leadership. Their consultation resulted in similar findings to the consultation conducted for this Plan including that culturally diverse staff faced the following challenges to career progression: 

• Bias, racism and stereotyping: There were perceptions of racism from senior executive and managers as well as structural bias within workplaces
• Cultural barriers including feeling excluded due to not being able to participate in Australian workplaces
• As well as a lack of recognition of overseas experience, lack of representation in leadership, and inaccessibility of recruitment and promotion processes

To address these issues, the PSC is proposing a range of projects including:

• Increase in representation and pathways to senior leadership
• Developing inclusivity throughout the entire employee lifecycle
• Building support structures across the sector
• Building frameworks for cultural safety and belonging

DCS looks forward to collaborating closely with PSC and other agencies on these projects.

Governance and implementation

DCS will continue to monitor and report on the progress of actions under the DCS multicultural plan through:

• Implementation resources – Implementation resources will be created for each action to ensure there are appropriate resources to implement the actions under the Plan. This pack will include consultation summaries, quotes, and areas for research. 
• Working group – A working group will be created with all divisional sponsors to allow for collaboration on actions. This group will meet every other month.
• Regular updates – Updates will be provided to DCS executive at each diversity and inclusion advisory committee (DIAC) meeting.
• Annual reporting – DCS will continue to report on progress of actions under the plan via annual reports. It will also continue to report annually to multicultural NSW under the MPSP framework.