Unconscious Bias in the Australian Public Service: Implications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment

Abstract

Abstract

Unconscious bias in the Australian Public Service is affecting the workplace experience of Indigenous employees. Indigenous employees in the APS remain over-represented in lower APS classifications and under-represented in executive and senior executive levels. On average Indigenous employees have considerably shorter careers in the APS compared to non-Indigenous employees, whose career length in the APS remains relatively constant (APSC, 2021i). Other indicators of workforce participation, engagement, and separation rates indicate Indigenous employees do not share the same level of employment equity when compared to non-Indigenous employees. The impact of unconscious bias prevents Indigenous employees' from enjoying a workplace experience equal to that of non-Indigenous APS employees. Literature suggests barriers to Indigenous employment because of bias include; stereotyping, discrimination, prejudices, and racism (Bargallie, 2020; Faulkner & Lahn, 2019; Larkin, 2014). The results translate into limited career advancement and promotion opportunities, making higher classifications less appealing and pigeonholing Indigenous employees into specific Indigenous roles. My thesis aimed to investigate how unconscious bias manifests in APS in the everyday working relationship between employees and managers. A grounded theory constructionist approach guided a mixed methods research methodology to understand how unconscious bias affects the workplace experience of Indigenous employees in the APS. The following three research questions formed the focus of the research: 1. Does unconscious bias exist in the APS, and if so, how is it experienced in the Australian Public Service? 2. To what extent is cultural competence supporting an inclusive Australian Public Service workplace? 3. To what extent is the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees congruent with the expectations required of APS employment? The quantitative research component of this thesis draws on a measure of implicit bias from social psychology (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) to estimate the effect of individual levels of unconscious bias between Indigenous and non-Indigenous APS employees. The qualitative research component applied a combination of thematic analysis and a process of determining a prioritised list of weighted workplace needs through the Modern Quality Function Deployment methodology. The result of the study from both quantitative and qualitative research components discerned three high-level priority response recommendations to assist the APS in repositioning APS Indigenous employment policy and practice: 1. Priority response 1: Restructure cultural competence in the APS is fundamental for future Indigenous employment. 2. Priority response 2: Empowering Indigenous employee voice for greater workplace participation and inclusion. 3. Priority response 3: Developing an Integrated training program to address unconscious bias that combines a mixture of behavioural, cultural and structural strategies and measures to embed change into the DNA of the APS.