At APRA, we aspire to fully harness the skills, experiences, ingenuity and wisdom of our employees, whatever their background or personal circumstances. We believe our focus on inclusion and diversity will deliver benefits for individual employees, teams and our entire organisation.
APRA's Inclusion and Diversity Council (IDC) monitors our progress for meeting key objectives of our strategy and champions the need for further strides where necessary. Under the IDC, APRA has an active program of events and opportunities to increase awareness and understanding across our existing networks.
APRA actively seeks to attract, develop and retain employees and leaders from across the full spectrum of the Australian community. We believe diversity encompasses more than our visible differences, such as age, gender, ethnicity and physical abilities, or unseen differences such as religion or sexual orientation. We aspire to foster diversity of thought, recognising that a broad range of perspectives, approaches and ideas makes us stronger, improves our judgements, and better enables us to meet our obligation to protect the financial wellbeing of the Australian community.
We want everyone at APRA to feel safe, respected and valued, and trust they can confidently speak up and be heard. We encourage our employees to express themselves, challenge conventional wisdom and seek assistance or guidance when they need it. And we provide our leaders with the skills and awareness to foster an inclusive workplace culture.
The Aspire Network is open to everyone to join and aims to create and foster relationships within a community of professionals who share an interest in the professional development, attraction, retention, and growth of women.
Aspire provides professional development and networking opportunities through events and network-led initiatives and influences change within the working environment to reflect APRA’s inclusion and diversity goals, with a focus on enabling women to reach their full potential.
The AccessAbility Network represents employees with disabilities to create an inclusive workplace where everyone's true abilities can be accessed.
Through network-led events and topical discussions, the team advocates for employees with visible and non-visible disabilities, consulting on best-practice accessible workplace initiatives, removing barriers - both physical and psychological - to ensure equal access and participation for all employees, regardless of disability or personal circumstances.
APRA is a Silver member of the Australian Disability Network and continues to promote accessibility in the workplace, updating and promoting its Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan form for employees who may require assistance during an emergency evacuation and has incorporated design modifications to address modern accessibility requirements in the refurbishment of amenities in the Sydney office.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network is committed to increasing APRA's collective knowledge of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritages, cultures, and peoples.
Key to this is developing and implementing APRA's Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) commitments. APRA is involved in the Jawun Indigenous Secondments program, which provides opportunities for APRA employees to work with Indigenous communities and leaders, facilitating long-term engagement and two-way transfer of knowledge and skills.
The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Network is dedicated to fostering a safe, inclusive, and supportive workplace that celebrates cultural and racial diversity. The network embraces people from all countries, cultural backgrounds, languages, and religions - creating an environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and achieve their best.
Key priorities include creating a platform for CALD voices by recognising cultural and racial diversity through an intersectional lens, providing support for equitable career growth, and fostering understanding of diverse working, communication, and leadership styles. The CALD network leverages the APS CALD Employment Strategy and Action Plan and collaborates closely with inter-agency counterparts.
The Intergenerational Inclusion Network is dedicated to developing and supporting a culture which values and embraces individuals from different age groups and generational cohorts, recognising that each generation brings unique strengths, perspectives, and experiences that can be leveraged to enhance collaboration, innovation, and overall success at APRA.
The network supports opportunities for personal and professional development by providing insights and support to empower and enable intergenerational understanding and productive collaboration.
The Pride Network fosters a safe and supportive culture where LGBTQIA+ people are respected, valued, and empowered to bring their whole selves to work.
Key priorities include building community, promoting education and awareness, and advancing workplace inclusion. APRA hosted Allyship Training through the Pride Network and is proud to hold Bronze Tier status in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI). Currently, the Network is focused on strengthening our efforts as we work towards achieving Silver Tier status.
Our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy outlines our approach to fostering a workplace culture where diverse perspectives are valued, inclusion is embedded in the way we work, and all employees have the opportunity to contribute and perform at their best.
The strategy focuses on three strategic objectives:
These objectives are underpinned by our continued commitment to gender inclusion, cultural and linguistic diversity, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, accessibility, First Nations inclusion and intergenerational diversity.
Our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy is a key component of how we deliver our corporate strategy. APRA is committed to delivering a modern and flexible working environment to support organisation empowerment and excellence. This includes hybrid ways of working and providing an inclusive and diverse workplace.
We’re committed to increasing our collective knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritages, cultures and peoples through building cultural awareness, respect, support and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and peoples.
‘Together, Connected to Culture’ artwork by David Williams of Gilimbaa.
APRA is committed to creating a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for our LGBTQIA+ employees. As part of this commitment, we are proud to be a member of Pride in Diversity, Australia’s leading LGBTQIA+ workplace inclusion program. This partnership supports our efforts to build awareness, foster allyship, and implement best practices across the organisation.
In recognition of our progress, APRA was recently awarded Bronze Employer status in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI). This national benchmark acknowledges our ongoing work to support LGBTQIA+ inclusion and affirms our dedication to continuous improvement in this space.
