COMMONWEALTH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS MULTICULTURAL ACCESS AND EQUITY ACTION PLAN 2018–2022
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PDF version of the 2018-20 COMMONWEALTH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS MULTICULTURAL ACCESS AND EQUITY ACTION PLAN.
Table of Content
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is a national prosecution service, which contributes to a fair, safe and just society by delivering effective, independent prosecution services for the Australian community.
For more than 30 years, the CDPP has prosecuted a diverse range of crimes against Commonwealth law including:
- Terrorism
- Child exploitation
- Corporate, commercial and corruption
- Cybercrime
- Environment
- Human trafficking and slavery
- Money laundering
- People smuggling
- Revenue and benefits fraud
- Safety
- Serious drug offences
The CDPP undertakes legal work in courts across Australia, provides legal advice to Commonwealth investigators and plays an essential role in assisting with the prosecution of transnational crime.
Multicultural Access and Equity Action Plan
The CDPP’s Multicultural Access and Equity Action Plan (MAEAP) identifies actions that we will implement to enhance our services, interactions and responsiveness to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) employees, colleagues in partner agencies, witnesses and victims. The actions are aligned to the six commitments of the Multicultural Access and Equity Policy:
Leadership
Engagement
Responsiveness
Performance
Capability
Openess
The MAEAP will be supported through the CDPP’s three cultural elements—collaboration, innovation and diversity. We aim to provide opportunities to the culturally and linguistically diverse community by:
understanding and respecting cultural differences
breaking down barriers in our work and working environment
broadening and embedding access to services and resources
enhancing employee awareness to empower them to respond and assist in a quick and efficient way
celebrating and raising awareness on national recognition days, such as Harmony Day.
1.Leadership
Senior management and employees within the agency demonstrate a commitment to the implementation and promotion of the MAEAP.
| ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIMELINE | MEASURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Appoint a CDPP senior leader to be the Diversity Champion which will include championing Multicultural Access and Equity (MAE) | ELG | March 2018 | Champion appointed |
| 1.2 | Launch the MAEAP | People Branch | March 2018 | MAEAP launched and promoted throughout agency |
| 1.3 | Include relevant MAEAP initiatives that directly relate to our strategic themes | Practice Group Leaders Governance | For the entirety of the MAEAP | The MAEAP is referenced in strategic documents |
| 1.4 | Include MAE issues as a standing agenda item to identify & address any barriers experienced by CALD communities in accessing services | National Victims of Crime Liaison Group Secretariat | For the entirety of the MAEAP | Item included on standing agenda |
2.Engagement
We engage with the community to ensure that we provide a fair, equitable and accessible prosecution service and also provide clear information for the CALD community to contact the CDPP.
| ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIMELINE | MEASURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Ensure complaints and feedback policy and procedures are accessible to people from CALD backgrounds | Communications and Media Team | August 2018 | CDPP Complaints policy is uploaded on the CDPP’s external website in HTML format |
3.Responsiveness
We ensure services and guidelines are readily available to ensure the CDPP is responsive to, and can support all culturally and linguistically diverse Australians.
| ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIMELINE | MEASURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | CDPP representation at the MAE whole of government working group | Diversity Network | As per working group meeting schedule | Representative from Diversity Network attends each meeting |
| 3.2 | Identify cultural training to ensure CDPP employees can respond to victims, witnesses and defendants accordingly | People Branch Prosecution Team Leaders | August 2018 When required | Organisations that provide cultural training are listed on ehub Training for employees is available as needed |
| 3.3 | Ensure documents on our external website are readily accessible in key applicable forms (example HTML) | Communications and Media Team | September 2018 | Information on the external CDPP website can be ‘read’ by language translation software |
4.Performance
We implement processes to measure multicultural access and equity performance at senior management and agency level.
| ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIMELINE | MEASURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Provide updates to ELG on progress of MAEAP initiatives | Diversity Network | Bi annual—April and October each year | Updates provided to ELG as scheduled |
| 4.2 | Information on the progress of MAE initiatives to be reported in the Annual Report | Diversity Network | Annually—July | The Annual report reflects the efforts of the CDPP to embed culturally inclusive practices |
5.Capability
We foster employee understanding and awareness of the cultural and linguistically diverse Australian community.
| ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIMELINE | MEASURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Investigate cultural competency training for CDPP employees | People Branch | December 2018 | Paper submitted to ELG recommending cultural training |
| 5.2 | Coordinate events that celebrate cultural diversity | People Branch until Diversity Network is established—then Diversity Network will be responsible | Dates to coincide with days determined by the Diversity Network | Cultural diversity is celebrated through promotion of whole of agency events, such as Harmony Day |
| 5.3 | Review and update HR resources to ensure there are no unintended barriers to employees or potential employees from a culturally and linguistically diverse background | People Branch | September 2019 | Documents and processes are updated as required |
| 5.4 | Continue to grow the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Network to include cultural and linguistic expertise | Legal Business Improvement | May 2019 | The SME Network has a variety of employee profiles with expertise in speaking, writing and reading CALD languages |
6.Openness
We are transparent and open with how the MAEAP is implemented and delivered.
| ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIMELINE | MEASURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Publish the MAEAP on the agency’s internal and external website | Communication and Media Team | March 2018 | MAEAP published on ehub and external website |
| 6.2 | Complete the MAE report annually | People Branch | Annually—September/ October | October MAE report provided to DSS annually, by due date |
| 6.3 | Publicise examples of the removal of barriers with partner agencies through summary of positive initiatives or changes made in relation to reducing barriers in the culturally and linguistically diverse space to the Diversity Network | Diversity Network | Progressively—when available | Examples are published on e-hub |
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| COMMONWEALTH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS MULTICULTURAL ACCESS AND EQUITY ACTION PLAN 2018–2022 | 415.63 KB |