Managing Diversity Conference

The Managing Diversity Conference 2003

From 1-3 October 2003 three hundred delegates from around Australia and overseas gathered together at the Darebin Arts Centre for the Managing Diversity Conference. The aim of the event was to create an accessible forum for sharing knowledge and experiences across private, public and community sector organisations and to illustrate the benefits and potential of diversity management.

Keynote speakers, parallel session presenters and informal discussion groups addressed a range of critically important themes relating to diversity management, with a focus on cultural diversity. Sessions posed important questions and challenges in relation to how to take productive diversity forward to better serve work forces and communities. The feedback from conference delegates has been overwhelmingly favourable. Nearly 90% of those who completed the Conference Evaluation form rated the Conference as excellent or very good. 95% rated the Keynote speakers as excellent or very good.

The conference management committee is currently working on the Managing Diversity Conference proceedings that will feature papers based on material that was presented in many of the parallel and plenary sessions. The proceedings will be distributed electronically to all registered delegates and will also be available online for general purchase. Notification will be placed on this site when the proceedings have been made available. Should you wish to be contacted personally when the proceedings are available for distribution please email the event project manager Selena Papps at selena.papps@commongroundconferences.com.

About the Managing Diversity Conference

With the advent of globalisation, Diversity Management is being identified and acknowledged as a key management competency. It is an important tool for maximising opportunities and meeting challenges. Private firms and public and community sector organisations in Australia and abroad are increasingly discovering the hidden productive benefits of diversity management.

Diversity refers to all the ways in which people differ, and may be defined by differences in ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and ability. Diversity management is the art of capturing the 'diversity dividend' (the organisational benefits to be gained by meeting the needs of diverse groups) to maximise the organisation's potential, bringing significant benefits to internal and external stakeholders. The key to successful diversity management lies in the commitment and attention of organisational leaders. Successful managers in the twenty-first century, whether in the public or the corporate sector, stand out as having the experience and tools to deal with the demands of locally diverse communities in a globalised world. The new leaders position themselves at the forefront of organisational management and recognise the shift away from the outdated service delivery model of 'one size fits all' towards a broader and inclusive approach. This approach is based on the fundamentals of niche market penetration, product and service customisation, the ability to find complementarities rather than commonality in teams, the management of diverse human resources and diverse customer relationships, and the creation of an inclusive organisational culture.

Building an organisational competency in diversity management also has far reaching benefits in contributing to the community and the organisation's capacity to engender cohesiveness. Whilst the dollar bottom line is implicit, attention to diversity can enhance a new, cultural bottom line for organisations based on service excellence, human productivity, competitive advantage and meaningful intercultural community relations.

Participants are welcome to submit proposals, to present one of the conference parallel sessions as either 30 minute papers or 60 minute workshops. Presentations can be submitted for publication and will then be fully refereed and published in print and electronic formats. For those unable to attend the conference in person, non attending contributor registrations are available, whereby stand alone papers can be submitted for refereeing and publication in the final conference proceedings.

Who Should Attend

• Managers in the private, public and community sectors.
• Private and public sector leaders: diversity management, equal employment opportunity, human resource development.
• Workplace trainers and change agents.
• Customer relationship managers.
• Public administrators and policy makers.
• Community leaders and community workers.
• Academics.
• Research students.

Conference Supporters

Major Sponsors

Sponsors

Conference Organisers

Common Ground

About the City of Darebin

A diverse and democratic city where citizens work together to advance community life

The City of Darebin has a Vision for this city, one which we are committed to achieving. The Vision has been carefully constructed to illustrate, with just a few words, our aspirations for the Darebin community.

But in order to understand what we mean by a diverse and democratic city where citizens work together to advance community life, further explanation is needed.

Darebin is a diverse city, not only in terms of multicultural, language and ethnic diversity, but we are also diverse in socio-economic background, employment status and occupation, housing needs and preferences and, perhaps most importantly, Darebin's community has a diverse range of opinions, aspirations and expectations,

The Darebin community values its democracy very highly, and Council is committed to a governance process that is fair, open and transparent. For residents to be proud of their democracy Council must be doing a good job of focussing on transparency, inclusiveness and leadership. We must also be seen to be making sound decisions and balancing needs appropriately.

Darebin's citizens are empowered to actively participate in decision making processes and have an obligation to be involved in our governance. As a community, we rely on active citizenship to empower ourselves to help shape the decisions which affect us, and to influence the ongoing development of our neighbourhoods.

Our Vision is for a community that works together to advance community life. This reflects our desire for a city which is united in a common understanding of what we what to achieve. We will work to build a community that is as committed as we are to providing opportunities for people in employment, entertainment, recreation, leisure and cultural pursuits. Our decisions will be influenced by their potential to improve things for our community, and lay the foundations for the community of the future.

About the Victorian Multicultural Commission

Victoria, a successful community, rich in diversity, open to the world

Victoria is one of the most culturally diverse and harmonious societies in the world. Today, of the four million people living in Victoria, one million were born overseas.

Victoria's future success depends on promoting economic development, encouraging innovation and building a caring community by addressing social disadvantage and discrimination. It also relies on building on the skills and talents of its people from different cultural backgrounds to reach their full potential.

The Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) will provide the government with independent and responsive advice to build upon our achievements. It will also promote the participation of Victorians regardless of their ethnicity, culture and religious background in building a successful future for us all.