Mr Latham asked the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, upon notice, on 11 November 1998:

(1) What measures has the Minister's department undertaken which are categorised as positive discrimination programs, that is, providing preference to certain citizens on the basis of their gender, sexuality, age race, place of birth or some other personal characteristic.

(2) What are the details and funding commitments involved in each case.

Dr Kemp (Education, Training and Youth Affairs; Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) The Department has not undertaken any measures which are categorised as positive discrimination programs.

DETYA has been implementing Workplace Diversity, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Equity measures in line with Government policy and its commitments under the Public Service Act. The Public Service Act requires the department to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate a Workplace Diversity program which incorporates EEO and Equity agendas. The department has been active in meeting this commitment and ensuring that it implements a system that is fair and equitable, and values diversity and non-discriminatory treatment of staff.

One of the EEO principles is that judgements are genuinely based on merit. The merit principle aims to ensure people are judged fairly and without bias or favouritism. When offering equal employment opportunities and making decisions based on the merit principle, there are some groups in our society who are unable to gain equal access for a variety of historical and systematic reasons including prejudice, discrimination and unfair treatment. For this reason four EEO groups have been designated. They are women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people of non English speaking background and people with disabilities.

In accordance with this, DETYA participates in the Australian Public Service wide programs designed by the Public Service and Merit Protection Commission such as the Senior Women In Management (SWIM) Program and the Indigenous Career Development programs such as the Aboriginal Undergraduate Study Awards (AUSA), the Aboriginal Staff Sponsorship Program (ASSP) and Indigenous Cadetships.

Strategies designed to assist the designated groups are not designed to give preference to these individuals but rather to remove obstacles preventing them from gaining equal access to employment.

(2) What are the details and funding commitments involved in each case. The budget estimates for the 1998/99 financial year are as follows:

DETYA Budget Estimates for 1998/99