The Guide: Implementing the Standards for Statistics on Cultural and Language Diversity
Implementation of the Standards
Departments and agencies have different structures, operational agendas and change management processes and their adoption of practices like the Standards will reflect these differences.
The following suggestions will, however, have general application.
The process of identifying the scope of the implementation will probably involve several areas in the organisation.
Successful implementation will depend on how well the benefits of adopting the Standards are communicated (see Benefits and costs).
For most departments and agencies, the adoption of the Standards throughout the organisation may take some time to accomplish and will need to be managed jointly by a project management team and the operational areas responsible for data collection.
It may be advantageous to implement the Standards in relation to an individual data set or system that is used widely in the organisation and/or to incorporate the requirement to implement the Standards in corporate directions.
As a first step, government departments and agencies should undertake an audit to develop an inventory of computer systems, data collections and major surveys where information on cultural and linguistic diversity is being or should be collected.
The inventory should also identify the following issues:
- is the minimum core set of variables being collected? If not, what is missing?;
- opportunities to change data collection practices and adopt the minimum core set (eg, IT system re-designs, policy developments, program evaluations, agency re-structures, creation of new agencies, policies and programs, budget measures, cyclical reviews of forms/processes, legislative cycles);
- ways to incorporate the use of the Standards in service charters and contracts;
- priorities for bringing data collections in line with the minimum core set; and
- data and systems that are part of linkages and exchanges with other organisations.
Departments and agencies will also need to develop a system for monitoring the implementation of the Standards, reporting progress (eg, in the Access and Equity annual report) and distributing corporate knowledge of Standards implementation processes around the organisation.
This will involve the:
- development of timelines and milestones; and
- assignment of responsibilities for implementation.
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