Commissioner’s message The Public Sector Commission is committed to developing a talented and versatile Aboriginal workforce in the Western Australian public sector. The aim is for a sector where Aboriginal people are employed in a wide range of roles at all levels, from trainees to agency chief executive officers. Improving employment opportunities will contribute to the in economic participation for Aboriginal people. ‘closing gap’ Aboriginal employment enhances our workforce diversity and improves the services we deliver. It helps us to better understand Aboriginal customers and communities and to develop and deliver improved policies and programs. The WA public sector has made good progress in Aboriginal employment over the last four years. However this year, we see the Council of Australian Governments’ National partnership agreement on Indigenous economic participation draw to a close and WA’s Aboriginal employment strategy 2011-2015 Building a diverse public sector workforce – comes to an end. With this in mind, it is imperative the sector continues to provide Aboriginal employees with access to training and development opportunities to identify meaningful career pathways. This will have a significant impact on the ability and willingness of Aboriginal employees to build careers in the public sector and positively influence service delivery. Mentoring offers a great opportunity for both mentors and mentees to develop their skills, share key knowledge, encourage the formation of networks and work towards future goals. Mentoring for Aboriginal employees has been developed around the concepts of contemporary mentoring, but has individual key considerations consistent with the diversity, values and characteristics of Aboriginal people. I hope these guidelines assist you in developing a mentoring program that not only benefits your organisation, but assists in creating exciting opportunities for Aboriginal employees. M C Wauchope PUBLIC SECTOR COMMISSIONER
Commissioner’s message The Public Sector Commission is committed to developing a talented and versatile Aboriginal workforce in the Western Australian public sector. The aim is for a sector where Aboriginal people are employed in a wide range of roles at all levels, from trainees to agency chief executive officers. Improving employment opportunities will contribute to ‘closing the gap’ in economic participation for Aboriginal people. Aboriginal employment enhances our workforce diversity and improves the services we deliver. It helps us to better understand Aboriginal customers and communities and to develop and deliver improved policies and programs. The WA public sector has made good progress in Aboriginal employment over the last four years. However this year, we see the Council of Australian Governments’ National partnership agreement on Indigenous economic participation draw to a close and WA’s Aboriginal employment strategy 2011-2015 – Building a diverse public sector workforce comes to an end. With this in mind, it is imperative the sector continues to provide Aboriginal employees with access to training and development opportunities to identify meaningful career pathways. This will have a significant impact on the ability and willingness of Aboriginal employees to build careers in the public sector and positively influence service delivery. Mentoring offers a great opportunity for both mentors and mentees to develop their skills, share key knowledge, encourage the formation of networks and work towards future goals. Mentoring for Aboriginal employees has been developed around the concepts of contemporary mentoring, but has individual key considerations consistent with the diversity, values and characteristics of Aboriginal people. I hope these guidelines assist you in developing a mentoring program that not only benefits your organisation, but assists in creating exciting opportunities for Aboriginal employees. M C Wauchope PUBLIC SECTOR COMMISSIONER
aboriginal_mentoring_program_guidelines_for_agencies.docx