Australian Greens Deputy Leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi, who has long advocated for the need to increase the representation of people of colour in the leadership ranks of the APS, has welcomed release of the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Employment Strategy and Action Plan to increase cultural diversity in senior leadership of the Australian Public Service (APS).
As stated by Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Anti-racism, Senator Mehreen Faruqi:
“Today’s announcement is a win for people of colour in the APS. I commend past and present APS staff who bravely exposed the racism and discrimination they were subjected to. This big step forward has come because of their courage.
“I have long criticised the failure of the Australian Public Service Commission and pushed for diversity and inclusion strategies to prioritise the representation of people of colour. It’s good to see that Minister Gallagher has acted on these concerns.
“There is still more work for the APS to do, including providing mandatory anti-racism training which challenges white privilege and deals with ingrained prejudices. They should also ditch Harmony Day which whitewashes racism.
“Too many people in Australia are subjected to profoundly harmful racism and discrimination every day. It is encouraging to see the APS take leadership with tangible progress that hopefully ripples through to other workplaces.”
