Job seekers not told of gender bias

APPLICANTS seeking a government department cadetship were mistakenly left in the dark about the fact its recruitment could positively discriminate in favour of females.

The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment has confirmed it initially failed to inform applicants about the pro-female recruitment mix.

This follows a landmark decision earlier this year by the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner to grant DPIPWE an exemption to recruit a majority of females to its cadet program in the next three years, being the first government department to seek and get such an approval.

The advertisement earlier this month made no reference to the exemption and DPIPWE confirmed it failed to disclose the fact in the cadetship information packs until it was notified of the problem.

“Any information in relation to exemptions or other information relevant to applicants is generally provided to applicants within information packs that can be downloaded through the Tasmanian Jobs Website,’’ a DPIPWE spokesman said.

“The department became aware that for a brief period of time information relating to the exemption was temporarily unavailable in the online information packs. As soon as the department was made aware of this concern, the problem was resolved.’’

The DPIPWE decision was based on laws that provide an exception for discrimination to benefit a group that is disadvantaged or has a special need because of a prescribed attribute. It means six of the nine cadet positions must be female, a move being driven by DPIPWE’s Gender Equality Action Plan to address a gender imbalance.

DPIPWE has about 770 male employees (57.6 per cent) and 568 female (42.6 per cent).

“The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment is committed to a diverse workforce that reflects the communities that it serves,’’ the spokesman said.

“As part of this commitment, in 2016 the department initiated a cadet program which is aimed at providing opportunities for university students to gain professional experience while continuing to study for their … degree.

“To assist in encouraging diversity within the program, earlier this year the department received approval from Equal Opportunity Tasmania...’’

The move coincided with a push to boost the number of women on government boards and in senior departmental management roles.

In 2004, state-owned government business Metro Tasmania sought an exemption to employ more female bus drivers.