Liverpool Smart Centre staff have won the people’s choice award in a national photography competition to celebrate workplace diversity.
The photograph captures the many different cultural backgrounds of Smart Centre staff, including Arabic, Assyrian, Bengali, Filipino, Turkish and Vietnamese.
“We pride ourselves on being an office that celebrates and embraces our differences,” Smart Centre Manager Julie Stojanovski said.
“We work hard to create a strong sense of belonging and our workplace is enriched by a tapestry of cultures.
“It makes our environment more creative and allows us to see life from many different perspectives.”
The competition was held by the Department of Human Services to celebrate its new Workplace Inclusion and Diversity Strategy. The strategy ensures the department is a workplace where everyone feels respected, included, supported, valued and empowered.
“We were all very honoured to win the award,” Julie said.
“It highlights the fantastic work being done in Liverpool to help Australians from all walks of life.”
About half of the Liverpool Smart Centre staff answer calls in other languages for the department’s Multilingual Phone Service. The service is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and handles about 2500 calls a day in more than 30 languages.
“We can speak to customers in their own languages, making it much easier for them to access support and services,” Julie said.
Smart Centre staff also enjoy coming together to celebrate their multicultural community with many special events.
“Our lunches are a staff favourite, where we share and experience food from different cultures,” Julie said.
“We also mark special occasions including the end of Ramadan, Harmony Day and Lunar New Year.
“Our workplace reflects the diversity of our local community and the wider Australian community.”
More information
- Read more about Workplace Diversity and Inclusion at the Department of Human Services here.
