❓ The WA Police Force outlines its programs and initiatives, managed by the Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit, to assist culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) migrants in adapting to Western Australia.
AnsweredQoN 7435Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
What programmes or initiatives have been undertaken by the Diversity Unit to assist new Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) migrants to adapt better to Western Australia's diverse community?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
1 May 2012
Responded by
Minister for Police
Response time
42 days
The Western Australia Police Diversity Unit is formally titled the Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit and is a part of the Community Engagement Division. The Western Australia Police programmes and initiatives to assist new Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) migrants to adapt better to Western Australia's diverse community are as follows:
Community Engagement
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit actively engages with CaLD Government and non-government stakeholder groups. This includes proactive engagement with families and individuals in response to service delivery issues.
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit also provides specialised support to police districts and CaLD families who are experiencing difficulties in adapting to the diverse community in Western Australia. Team members with specific subject matter expertise provide information and support through:
· Supporting frontline police officers in dealing with CaLD related issues to maintain peace in diverse communities and engaging with the community to manage and minimise community tension.
· Actively researching and identifying new and emerging issues as a result of the changing demography within the State.
· Providing education to specialist units within WA Police regarding new and emerging issues such as Female Genital Mutilation and Honour Based Violence and assisting the CaLD community to understand legislation in Western Australia regarding these matters.
· Assisting in supporting police responses to young people and school students from CaLD backgrounds who are having difficulties accepting and adjusting with mainstream Australian students at school and outside of the school environment. Such situations may lead to community tensions.
· Participating in the State response to the COAG International Student Strategy 2010-14 through:
§ Participating in Stakeholder groups such as the Council of International Students of WA (CISWA);
§ Assisting in the coordination of student safety lectures and community engagement activities aimed at international students;
§ Assisting international students and stakeholders resolve issues that impact on police service delivery.
Training and Education
All WA Police Recruits, Auxiliary Officers and Custody Officers receive training in cultural diversity at the Police Academy. The training has been designed to ensure personnel have a broad understanding of contemporary issues relating to CaLD migrants in the community. The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit currently delivers a two day training module on diversity. The training includes:
· Why we need Diversity Training and the underpinning policies and legislation that directs police service delivery;
· Identifying the various types of diversity that exists in the community;
· Understanding religious diversity;
· The use of Translators and Interpreters;
· Racial Vilification.
Policy Development
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit manages a number of Agency policies that are relevant to CaLD communities, of particular note is the Agency Language Services Policy.
A component of the Language Services Policy is the Agency Language Assistant Register of police officers and staff who are multilingual. Language Assistants are used to provide assistance in interpreting and translating tasks that:
· Explain WA Police processes and procedures;
· Provide basic directions and instructions;
· Explain simple WA Police forms;
· Perform basic community engagement functions; or
· Assist with tasks where no interaction with the public is required (e.g. listening to a recorded conversation to determine if the activity relates to a criminal matter or assisting to compile an iFace composite image (photograph of offender).
Agency Language Assistants are not used to provide interpreting or translation when the member of the community needs to understand their legal rights and responsibilities. WA Police policy requires officers to obtain the services of a professional independent interpreter or translator if a member of the community needs to understand their legal rights and responsibilities.
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit is a support area to the Agency Substantive Equality Framework and provides subject matter advice on policy development and Impact Assessments for revision and development of new policies.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
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Community Engagement
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit actively engages with CaLD Government and non-government stakeholder groups. This includes proactive engagement with families and individuals in response to service delivery issues.
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit also provides specialised support to police districts and CaLD families who are experiencing difficulties in adapting to the diverse community in Western Australia. Team members with specific subject matter expertise provide information and support through:
· Supporting frontline police officers in dealing with CaLD related issues to maintain peace in diverse communities and engaging with the community to manage and minimise community tension.
· Actively researching and identifying new and emerging issues as a result of the changing demography within the State.
· Providing education to specialist units within WA Police regarding new and emerging issues such as Female Genital Mutilation and Honour Based Violence and assisting the CaLD community to understand legislation in Western Australia regarding these matters.
· Assisting in supporting police responses to young people and school students from CaLD backgrounds who are having difficulties accepting and adjusting with mainstream Australian students at school and outside of the school environment. Such situations may lead to community tensions.
· Participating in the State response to the COAG International Student Strategy 2010-14 through:
§ Participating in Stakeholder groups such as the Council of International Students of WA (CISWA);
§ Assisting in the coordination of student safety lectures and community engagement activities aimed at international students;
§ Assisting international students and stakeholders resolve issues that impact on police service delivery.
Training and Education
All WA Police Recruits, Auxiliary Officers and Custody Officers receive training in cultural diversity at the Police Academy. The training has been designed to ensure personnel have a broad understanding of contemporary issues relating to CaLD migrants in the community. The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit currently delivers a two day training module on diversity. The training includes:
· Why we need Diversity Training and the underpinning policies and legislation that directs police service delivery;
· Identifying the various types of diversity that exists in the community;
· Understanding religious diversity;
· The use of Translators and Interpreters;
· Racial Vilification.
Policy Development
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit manages a number of Agency policies that are relevant to CaLD communities, of particular note is the Agency Language Services Policy.
A component of the Language Services Policy is the Agency Language Assistant Register of police officers and staff who are multilingual. Language Assistants are used to provide assistance in interpreting and translating tasks that:
· Explain WA Police processes and procedures;
· Provide basic directions and instructions;
· Explain simple WA Police forms;
· Perform basic community engagement functions; or
· Assist with tasks where no interaction with the public is required (e.g. listening to a recorded conversation to determine if the activity relates to a criminal matter or assisting to compile an iFace composite image (photograph of offender).
Agency Language Assistants are not used to provide interpreting or translation when the member of the community needs to understand their legal rights and responsibilities. WA Police policy requires officers to obtain the services of a professional independent interpreter or translator if a member of the community needs to understand their legal rights and responsibilities.
The Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit is a support area to the Agency Substantive Equality Framework and provides subject matter advice on policy development and Impact Assessments for revision and development of new policies.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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