Part 1 - Purpose and Responsibilities
Purpose
1.1 The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs aims to improve the lives of Australians by creating opportunities for economic and social participation by individuals, families and communities.
1.2 The broad objective of this Agreement is to enable us to meet this overarching outcome and implement all other elements of the FaHCSIA Strategic Framework.
1.3 This Agreement seeks to:
- make FaHCSIA an employer of choice;
- promote work and life balance;
- achieve clarity and flexibility in terms and conditions of employment; and
- motivate employees to build a high performing and increasingly productive organisation.
Employee responsibilities
1.4 All employees accept responsibility to contribute to achieving FaHCSIA outcomes by:
- being fully conversant with, and upholding the principles and provisions of this Agreement and other supporting policies, guidelines and instructions;
- understanding where their contribution fits and the standard of work expected;
- engaging constructively in initiatives to enhance productivity and performance and progress change;
- adhering to and promoting the APS Values and Code of Conduct and demonstrating behaviours consistent with the Values and the Code;
- contributing to FaHCSIA outputs by participating in the FaHCSIA Performance Management Framework;
- actively participating in priority FaHCSIA learning and development activities;
- abiding by the all FaHCSIA guidelines, policies and directions/directives (including the Chief Executive Instructions);
- maintaining all required employee records, e.g. attendance, leave and participation in learning and development activities; and
- maintaining full and accurate records of matters which influence any decision on business-related matters and ensuring that all appropriate records are captured on the appropriate corporate record keeping system.
Manager responsibilities
1.5 Managers will:
- be fully conversant with, and uphold the principles and provisions of this Agreement and other supporting policies, guidelines and instructions;
- provide employees with the tools they need to do their work efficiently, effectively, ethically and creatively;
- build organisational capability through encouraging employee access to learning and development and giving employees guidance and encouragement to undertake their work effectively;
- regularly review and prioritise workloads to ensure that staffing levels and classifications are appropriate to achieve desired outcomes and do not negatively impact on employees;
- encourage, acknowledge and reward good performance; and
- ensure appropriate consultation on all workplace issues and initiatives that affect employees.