Other SASP targets that are relevant to the work of the department

Improve the quality of life of all South Australians through maintenance of a healthy work-life balance.

The department continued to deliver on its commitment to provide a work environment that is stimulating and interesting, safe and responsive to employee needs and responsibilities, and soundly based on departmental and public sector values and standards.

It supports work-life balance among employees through flexible working arrangements, alternative placement opportunities, part-time work opportunities and use of Long Service Leave as a transition to retirement.

The department also:

• provides family rooms at two worksites
• facilitates employee wellbeing programs
• drives a culture to create a positive work environment, and encourage collaboration and high performance
• provides work-life balance programs for trainees to build resilience, peer support networks and structured mentoring for staff
• conducts face to face conversations with staff where senior executives promote a message of work life balance, wellbeing and safety, and employees are encouraged to consider the hours they work and to look out for their colleagues and their wellbeing.

Achieve a 40% reduction in injury by 2012 and a further 50% reduction by 2022.

The department achieved a significant reduction in new workplace injuries of 23 per cent compared to the previous year. Workers compensation costs also reduced in the 2015-16 financial year.

A new Safety section has been established to further advance safety outcomes across the business. Injury prevention and injury management across the department now comes under a single business unit and this has had an immediate impact, especially in our high risk operational areas of road, rail, marine and construction activities.

The department’s commitment to the Premier’s Zero Harm Vision has driven the following improvement activities:

• a forensic analysis of Work Health and Safety (WHS) and Injury Management (IM) policies, procedures and processes benchmarking against legislative requirements, standards for self-insurers, Australian and International standards and known practices
• implementation of a new single safety management system to align with the Australian and New Zealand Standards
• development of a detailed corrective action plan (implementation has commenced) as a result of the contracted external independent audit of the department’s current WHS and IM management systems
• a review of injury management activities that impeded early and sustainable return to work; resulting in new processes being implemented
• a review of safety investigations and the implementation of root cause methodology to identify contributing factors and/or any systemic safety deficiencies. This has had an immediate positive impact on all investigations including those where the department’s contractors are engaged
• commencement of streamlining current safety systems into a new single safety management system that incorporates all requirements of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 and the Rail Safety National Law (South Australia) Act 2012
• implementation of a new safety consultative committee structure which has achieved better engagement of our workforce in injury prevention and injury management outcomes
• development of a suite of WHS ‘Outcome Based Performance Measures’ in partnership with the contractor community that will allow far greater safety outcomes for department staff and contractors, and positively impact public safety.

The department is building upon the above achievements and will continue to dedicate professional safety resources to ensure staff and community safety achieves our vision of Zero Harm.

The establishment of the dedicated Safety Section has identified key improvements to support an overall safer work environment. A new safety policy aims to embed a “positive safety culture”, with improved reporting that aligns with lead and lag safety indicators.

The department is progressing its positive safety culture through the Chief Executive and all levels of management through the undertaking of regular safety walks designed to supplement scheduled workplace inspections. This innovation encourages safety conversations between leaders and workers, and is generating a changed attitude towards safety across the business.

All Managers are required to now undertake a minimum of one safety walk a month on a project site, focusing on things such as compliance with procedures, ensuring that items are safe, employees are trained, and companies have safety systems in place. The department’s Infrastructure Delivery area having also commenced safety walks on infrastructure projects from February 2016.

An independent reviewer also has been engaged on these walks to review the projects and assist to up skill departmental staff.

274 Safety Walks were undertaken between February 2016 and June 2016.

Increase the number of women on all State Government boards and committees to 50% on average by 2014, and maintain thereafter by ensuring that 50% of women are appointed, on average, each quarter.

At 30 June 2016 the department was responsible for the administration of 14 boards and committees. Of a total 128 members, 46 per cent were women.

Increase the number of women chairing State Government boards and committees to 50% by 2014.

Of the 14 boards and committees administered by the department at 30 June 2016, 58 per cent were chaired by women.

Increase the satisfaction of South Australians with government services by 10% by 2014, maintaining or exceeding that level of satisfaction thereafter.

The department has developed and delivered a customer service charter plan which supports the delivery of customer-focused services, and is undertaking digital transformation of key customer facing services.

The reliability and overall satisfaction with public transport has remained steady for the reporting year. With the categories of information needed to make a journey, ease of use and likelihood to recommend, all having dropped by around 1 per cent.

The department undertook a motorist survey in conjunction with the Royal Automobile Association (RAA), Adelaide City Council (U-Park) and Service SA to develop strategies to improve customer satisfaction for public transport and increase patronage. The survey results indicate convenience is the primary reason for using a car i.e. will allow a quicker, more direct route and flexibility for more stops such as shopping, picking up children etc. The department is working to address misconceptions of public transport and adopt an improved focus on customer etiquette.

A review of the department’s governance committees has been undertaken to determine the percentage of external representatives to ensure we are reflective of community needs and our customer base.

Increase by 10% the number of people with a disability employed in South Australia by 2020.

As at June 2016 there were 52 employees who declared they had a disability which represents 1.7 per cent of the workforce.

The department has contributed to this target through a partnership with Barkuma and employing 11 people with a disability. The roles, primarily administrative and records management focused, support individuals to find rewarding jobs, learn new skills, explore their talents and provide opportunity for future career progression into higher classification levels.

Have women comprising half of the public sector employees in the executive levels (including Chief Executives) by 2014 and maintain thereafter.

As at June 2016 the department had 16 female executives, which represents 38 per cent of its executive cohort.

The department has demonstrated continued commitment to this target by the establishment of the Women in DIT Steering Committee, chaired by the Chief Corporate Officer with a senior male and female leader from each division and attended by the former Equal Opportunity Commissioner and current Public Advocate, Office of the Public Advocate.

Increase the participation of Aboriginal people in the South Australian public sector, spread across all classifications and agencies, to 2% by 2014 and maintain or better those levels through to 2020.

As at June 2016 there were 102 Aboriginal employees, which represents 3.4 per cent of the workforce.

The department continues to increase employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. One example being the commenced construction work on the APY Road Upgrade project with job creation of 30 per cent Anangu employment. This been achieved through consolidating existing programs and implementing new attraction and retention programs.

The department’s early intervention programs such as the Aboriginal Secondary Work Experience Program, Walpaara Anpa Awards and School Based Traineeships raise the profile of the department with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people while they are still in school. These programs provide regional/remote students with opportunities to engage with the department prior to leaving school and insights into potential career opportunities offered by the department.

Greater emphasis has been placed on improving career pathways and implementing retention strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. Some of these include a work/ life balance program for trainees to build resilience, peer support networks and structured mentoring for staff. Effort is made to match Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruits to suitable workplace mentors.

Aboriginal Cultural Consultants provide mentoring designed to assist individuals develop their professional skills and knowledge, support them to complete their employment program/qualification and achieve career progression.

Mentoring complements defined career pathways (Traineeship, Cadetship, Internship and Graduate Programs) to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees remain employed, and/or engaged by the department. The career pathways have been designed to provide greater opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the classifications.

A professional development program is being planned for the department’s Aboriginal employees. The aim of the program is to increase self-esteem, self-confidence, acknowledge their strengths and how to build on these and increasing capability for future promotional opportunities. The program will consist of workshops with individual professional development opportunities available as required.