Definition of Diversity Related Concepts
Equity
Equity is about fairness and justice. The Australian Government's Charter for Public Service in a Culturally Diverse Society refers to equity as a principle to be followed by government services when developing and delivering services.
The Charter explains that service users have different opportunities, education, skills and needs; and that service providers should take account of these differences in the way they design and deliver services.
Furthermore, service providers should help clients to overcome possible disadvantage caused by country of birth, language, culture, race and religion so that everyone receives fair treatment from government services.
Diversity
Diversity refers to all of the characteristics that make individuals different from each other. It includes characteristics or factors such as religion, race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation and disability as well as socio-economic level, educational attainment, personality, marital and parental status and general life and work experience.
Diversity is about the way we differ from each other. Some differences are not changeable and we have no control over them (race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability) and others can be changed (religion, language, socio-economic status etc.)
Managing Diversity
Fiona Krautil, former Director of the Equal Opportunity for Women Agency, once said:
“Imagine your organisation is a giraffe house. Equal Opportunity has been very effectively widening the door of the giraffe house to let the elephant in, but home won’t be best for the elephant unless a number of major modifications are made to the inside of the house. Without these changes the house remains designed for giraffes and the elephant will not feel at home.”
Managing diversity is the strategy used to harness the benefits of having a diverse workforce as well as ensuring that the services provided by the organisation meet the diverse needs of the community.
Managers are expected to be competent in managing diversity by putting in place effective strategies.
Inclusive Organisation
An inclusive organisation is one that:
- Values and utilises individual and inter-group differences within its workforce and
- Cooperates with, and contributes to, its surrounding community
To be inclusive, an organisation needs to be able to attract, retain and accommodate a range of diverse people who will feel valued and confident to be who they are rather than finding themselves having to conform to a dominant culture in order to fit in and be accepted by colleagues.