I am pleased to share Attorney-General’s Department (AGD)’s inaugural Multicultural South Australia Ambassador Program Action Plan.

Initiated by Multicultural Affairs, within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, the Multicultural South Australia Ambassador Program strongly aligns with AGD’s existing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The program aims to embed the South Australian Multicultural Charter into organisations, strengthening the cultural and linguistic diversity of their workforces, policies, and services.

Building on a successful pilot, the program is currently rolling out across the public sector. We’re excited to join businesses, not-for-profit organisations and local councils already participating.

Our tailored action plan will track our performance against 6 Multicultural Charter Principles with targeted, realistic and achievable outcomes. It’s intended to complement actions we’re taking on related initiatives including the whole-of-government Anti Racism Strategy, Closing the Gap targets and the AGD Diversity and Inclusion Plan.

Our Multicultural Ambassador, Human Resources Director Kate Stephens, is leading AGD’s implementation of the program in consultation with Multicultural Affairs.

I look forward to working with colleagues across the department to implement our Multicultural South Australia Ambassador Program Action Plan as part of our commitment to be increasingly culturally responsive and inclusive, and to better reflect the diverse communities we serve.

Caroline Mealor, Chief Executive

Recognise, respect and value cultural, linguistic, racial and religious diversity and the contribution this has made, and continues to make, to our state.

Objective 1

Increase inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) staff across AGD and improve visibility and tracking of CALD representation across AGD.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Scope out the interest in establishing an intercultural awareness group of CALD staff to foster dialogue, visibility, and inclusion and to provide feedback.
• Establish mechanisms for relevant feedback and gather CALD staff feedback, where relevant, on business practices, workplace culture, and potential barriers to progression.
• Review CALD data captured at onboarding and include in AGD diversity profile communications.
• Send a welcome email to all new starters identified as being from a CALD background outlining supports and resources.
• Use workforce data to identify trends and inform targeted diversity initiatives.

Responsibility / Lead

Human Resources – Workforce Development.

Timeline for implementation

Scope out to establish in 2026 and ongoing.

Annually from 2026.

Measures of success

• Increased visibility and understanding of CALD staffing profile in AGD.
• Participation of intercultural groups in the provision of feedback.
• Trends in survey results related to inclusion are measurable and provide usable insights.

Objective 2

Create a dedicated intranet page to promote multiculturalism and provide resources for CALD staff.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Design user-friendly content featuring information on multicultural policies and initiatives, links to support services for CALD staff, cultural calendar and awareness resources and provide the opportunity for staff to engage and give feedback.
• Work with Technology Services and Strategic Communications to explore the opportunity to create a digital gallery showcasing staff-submitted cultural content.

Responsibility / Lead

Human Resources – Workforce Development and Strategic Communications/ Technology Services.

Timeline for implementation

Scope and establish in 2026.

Measures of success

• New intranet content developed and launched.
• Page usage tracked by analytics.
• Results in any future People Matter Engagement Surveys (PMES) are closely aligned with whole of AGD results.

Are encouraged to engage in the reciprocal exchange of knowledge and understanding of our cultural, linguistic, racial, and religious diversity.

Objective 1

Provide accessible and effective cultural competency training for all staff and embed cultural competency into leadership development material and activities, where relevant.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Enhance existing e-learning on cultural and linguistic diversity.
• Continue rolling out the 3-step Aboriginal Cultural Awareness and Safety Training Framework and the Cultural Q Intelligence training and targeted workshops for managers and staff.
• Review Leadership Toolkit to increase focus on CALD inclusivity.
• Include cultural intelligence models in existing leadership development training.

Responsibility / Lead

Human Resources – Workforce Development.

Timeline for implementation

New content rolled out in 2026 and refreshed as needed.

Measures of success

Percentage of staff completing both e-learning and in-person training.

Objective 2

Promote across AGD the sharing of good news and cultural stories and celebrate cultural diversity through creative expression.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Encourage staff and community members to share personal stories that highlight cultural heritage and lived experience.
• Increase the sharing of cultural recognition stories on AGD social platforms.
• Celebrate cultural diversity through creative expression by hosting multicultural art or storytelling exhibitions.
• Continue the ‘AGD World Map’, an initiative to celebrate diversity by mapping where our staff come from, fostering inclusion and cultural understanding across the agency.

Responsibility / Lead

Strategic Communications and Facilities.

Timeline for implementation

Ongoing.

Measures of success

Increase in the number of stories being shared on the AGD intranet. and social media.

Are able to live, work and study to thrive in all aspects of life in a cohesive society.

Objective 1

Review recruitment processes to identify and reduce employment barriers for candidates from CALD backgrounds.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Encourage applications from diverse backgrounds (including CALD) by highlighting our commitment to supporting all staff from diverse backgrounds.
• Maintain and improve statements around cultural diversity representation on interview panels across recruitment activities, where relevant and appropriate (for example, where roles have a community interface).
• Review AGD recruitment training to ensure appropriate focus on CALD applicants.
• Enhance role profiles (descriptions) to explicitly include expectations around respecting cultural diversity and fostering understanding. For leadership roles, incorporate statements that emphasise championing inclusion, modelling culturally aware behaviours, and creating opportunities for cross-cultural engagement.

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Responsibility / Lead

Executive Management Group (EMG)/Human Resources.

Timeline for implementation

Ongoing.

Measures of success

• Statistics relating CALD staff recruited into AGD are monitored.
• Improved feedback from CALD candidates on recruitment experience.
• Improved analysis and awareness of workforce demographics and trends over time.
• Role profile template updated.

Objective 2

Support spiritual and wellbeing needs of CALD staff.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Conduct a comprehensive audit of existing combined use wellbeing/ prayer rooms across AGD sites to assess adequacy and accessibility.
• Identify gaps in provision and develop a plan to increase the number and quality of spaces to support staff wellbeing and cultural needs where possible. To include engaging with staff to understand location-specific needs and preferences.
• Promote awareness of existing and new spaces e.g. wellbeing rooms through internal communications and develop a plan to expand these spaces across AGD sites, ensuring accessibility and cultural inclusivity.
• Develop mechanisms to capture feedback.

Responsibility / Lead

EMG/Human Resources/business unit HR teams/Facilities.

Timeline for implementation

Audit in 2026. Roll out 2027.

Measures of success

• Review conducted of rooms and where possible the introduction of new rooms and/or upgrades to existing rooms.
• PMES scores related to wellbeing and inclusion are closely aligned with whole-of-AGD scores and whole-of-public-sector scores.

Have the right to mutual respect, understanding, fairness, safety, and freedom from discrimination based on their cultural, linguistic, racial and religious background.

Objective 1

Ensure that AGD policies, procedures, guidelines and programs are culturally inclusive and where relevant and appropriate, integrate the 6 principles of the South Australian Multicultural Charter.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Incorporate inclusive language and cultural considerations during scheduled policy reviews and develop a checklist to support consistent integration of multicultural principles.
• Where relevant, business units to consider the appropriateness of engaging with relevant CALD communities, so that they can be included in feedback mechanisms relating to policy development and service design where this has an impact on them.
• Continue to actively promote the Charter through internal communications, events, and recognition of multicultural contributions.
• Maintain and evolve the AGD Diversity and Inclusion Plan (D&I plan) with a continued focus on CALD inclusion, informed by staff input and focus groups.
• Ensure alignment with the Multicultural Charter principles in future iterations of the D&I plan.
• Continue to promote the Peer Support Officer program to ensure culturally safe support is available to all staff.

Responsibility / Lead

EMG.

Timeline for implementation

In line with existing policy review cycles.
Ongoing.

Measures of success

• A number of AGD policies and programs reviewed and updated to reflect inclusive language.
• Increased awareness of the Charter among staff (measured via pulse surveys or feedback tools).
• CALD communities appropriately engaged when required.

Objective 2

Achieve improvement in future PMES diversity and inclusion scores for CALD staffs.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Monitor and report changes in PMES results related to racism, discrimination and bullying/harassment experienced by CALD staff, to inform targeted interventions.

Responsibility / Lead

Human Resources – Workforce Development.

Timeline for implementation

Ongoing.

Measures of success

• Negative PMES indicators (racism, discrimination, bullying/harassment) are analysed and understood.
• Positive trend in CALD inclusion scores to align with broader AGD scores.

Should lawfully be able to preserve, express, practice and celebrate their cultural, linguistic and religious diversity.

Should lawfully be able to preserve, express, practice and celebrate their cultural, linguistic and religious diversity.

Objective

Recognise and communicate key cultural and religious holidays and events that reflect the diversity of our workforce, focusing on those most relevant to staff from CALD backgrounds.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Continue to support whole-of-government approaches to improve clarity for managers and staff on its use of cultural Leave to support not only Aboriginal employees but CALD staff in observing culturally and religiously significant days.
• Track and analyse cultural leave usage to identify trends and gaps.
• Continue promoting multicultural days of significance internally and externally to foster cultural pride and awareness.
• Review existing data on workforce CALD data and consider this with AGD corporate observance days. Encourage staff to make suggestions of days they feel are of cultural importance for promotion on AGD intranet page.
• Encourage business units to identify ‘Cultural Champions’ that can lead or support local cultural activities.

Responsibility / Lead

Human Resources – Workforce Development, Workforce Reporting/business unit HR/business unit heads.

Timeline for implementation

Complete by 2026 and review every 3 years.

Regular review of data to identify gaps and trends.

Measures of success

• Number of staff accessing cultural leave.
• Staff feedback on calendar relevance;
• increased visibility and participation in cultural observance activities.

Have equitable access to opportunities and services that support participation in the educational, social, cultural, economic, and political life of our state.

Objective 1

Enhance access and equity in service delivery.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Business units consider and identify potential barriers for CALD communities in accessing AGD services and explore opportunities to bridge these gaps.
• Continue to translate key documents and resources into priority languages.
• Ensure digital platforms meet accessibility standards for diverse users.
• Continue providing interpreter services to ensure equitable access to AGD services for CALD clients.

Responsibility / Lead

As relevant.

Timeline for implementation

2026 and reviewed every 3 years.

Measures of success

• Number of translated resources available.
• Increased service uptake by CALD communities.
• Reduction in identified access barriers through audit follow-up.
• Policy/plan in place for culturally appropriate service delivery.
• Seek feedback from customers.

Objective 2

Ensure equitable access for all staff to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that is culturally responsive and inclusive.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Maintain access to culturally responsive EAP services and promote availability to all staff.
• Continue to promote EAP through internal communications.
• Ensure that the EAP provider is inclusive to CALD staff and have CALD representation in their services where possible
• Explore what data the EAP provider collects with respect to whether staff members accessing a service are from a CALD background (where possible).

Responsibility / Lead

Human Resources –Wellbeing and Safety.

Timeline for implementation

Ongoing.

Measures of success

Objective 3

Understand and further explore recruitment opportunities through the use of appropriate work visas.

Action (how will we achieve this?)

• Increase the level of knowledge and understanding about the types of work visas that are be available and the extent to which they may be applicable to roles in AGD.
• Explore opportunities to use visas as part of the recruitment strategies for designated roles.
• Explore opportunities to collaborate with the Department of State Development to attract skilled professionals from overseas.

Responsibility / Lead

Human Resources – Workforce Development.

Timeline for implementation

Ongoing.

Measures of success

Number of visa holders recruited.