Winners of 2006 National Diversity@work Awards Announced

Employers and individuals across Australia have been recognised for their outstanding commitment to championing diversity within their workplace in the annual Diversity@work awards.

Announcing the winners at an awards ceremony in Melbourne last night, Diversity@work chief executive Stuart King said, ìAustralian workplaces are making great strides in implementing practical diversity initiatives - the judges were extremely impressed with the calibre of entries this year and the commitment by companies of varying sizes to embracing a more diverse workforce. ìIn their nominations, entrants cited enhanced creativity, better utilisation of talent, improved productivity and increased market standing as a result of their initiatives.î

The Diversity@work awards recognise and reward the efforts of individuals, teams and organisations that actively encourage the inclusion of a diverse employee base in the workplace. In total, 17 organisations were awarded for diversity initiatives in six categories, including Indigenous, disability, work/life balance, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), mature age and grey matters.

Some of this yearís recipients included IBM Australia and NZ (disability and mature age); University of South Australia (work/life balance); Lentil as Anything (CALD), ABC (Indigenous), Benetas (mature age) and Form 2000 Sheetmetal (grey matters).

The awards include a Diversity Champion Award in recognition of an individual who has initiated and championed diversity in their organisation. This year it was awarded to Ralph and Peta Monley from Miraquin ñ a small organisation operating in regional Western Australia that includes Miraquin Psychological Services and iHear Australia. Amongst other initiatives, Miraquin also holds monthly launches where staff come to work in their national costume and share a multicultural meal.

Commenting on the award, Peta Monley said, ìWhile we initially embraced diversity for its own intrinsic value, there is no doubt, it has had an invaluable impact on our bottom line.

ìBecause of the linguistic diversity of the team, we are able to provide audiological and psychological services to the community in eight different languages ñ itís definitely a unique point of difference for us.î

The awards have been running since 2002. Past award winners have included the ANZ, NAB, Westpac, Launceston General Hospital, Benetas, Sydney Water, Moran Furniture and Rio Tinto.

For more information on the 2007 Diversity@work awards visit www.diversityatwork.com.au.