In August 2022, 165 staff from 35 agencies, including five senior executives, met to discuss neurodiversity inclusion in the Commonwealth public sector. The conversation highlighted exciting opportunities:
- Being a model employer and harnessing untapped neurodivergent talent.
- Representing the community we serve through better data collection and analysis.
- Getting the right people in the right roles through inclusive recruitment practices.
- Cultivating inclusive workplace cultures by normalising discussions about preferred communication and working styles.
Since this meeting, this community has been formalised as the Public Sector Neurodiversity Community of Practice (CoP). On Tuesday 7 February, CoP co-founders Robin Edmonds and Andrew Pfeiffer joined Lee Steel, Ability Network Champion at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, on IPAA’s Work with Purpose podcast, to discuss neurodiversity inclusion in the public sector. The Mandarin and Riotact wrote articles about the podcast, highlighting the importance of neurodiversity inclusion.
The CoP steering committee have also launched a GovTEAMS community to facilitate collaboration on neurodiversity inclusion, including sharing resources, such as:
- A conversation starter about preferred working styles.
- Lists of possible adjustments at work and in recruitment processes.
The GovTEAMS channel and CoP aims to provide interested staff with resources for launching a neurodiversity network in their own agency.
Another all-staff meeting will be scheduled shortly to introduce the steering committee and seek attendees’ input. The Public Sector Neurodiversity CoP webpage includes additional details on how you can be involved in the CoP.
Note: this CoP and GovTEAMS community supersede the APS-wide Disability, Carer and Neurodiversity Networks GovTEAMS community for the purpose of collaborating on neurodiversity inclusion in the Commonwealth Public Sector.