Executive+Summary+088

If the NSW public sector is to create a workforce that reflects the values and diversity of the community then it must, inter alia, develop strategies to engage Aboriginal employees with their workplaces. The Aboriginal Mentoring Program uses Web 2.0 technologies to provide a support mechanism and network for Aboriginal public sector employees.

This mentoring program will foster the exchange of wisdom between Aboriginal public servants about the opportunities and challenges they face in public sector employment.

The mentor program’s aim is to use blended learning to provide culturally sensitive support for Aboriginal people working in or entering the public sector to assist them to engage effectively with their workplace, to feel better equipped to face the challenges their workplace presents and to experience their work life as meaningful and fulfilling. The result of which is higher retention rates of Aboriginal staff by public sector agencies in the short term, and increased numbers of Aboriginal staff in senior positions in the longer term.

The program offers the opportunity for both mentors and mentorees to gain nationally recognised units of competence from the Public Sector Training Package as well as the development of skills to more effectively support their communities.