As an employee of any organisation, you will discover (or will have already discovered) that you will be required to work with many people who are very different from you.  They will have been hired because of the special skills, abilities, personal characteristics, qualifications, experience and aptitudes that they can bring to the organisation.

They will have been drawn from throughout our Australian population, which is one of the most multicultural population groups in the world.  They, like you, will be protected by a reange of legislation including

anti-dscrimination legislation

Equal employment Opportunity legislation

the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act

and many more types of legislation designed to ensure that all people are treated fairly and equitably in Australian workplaces.

In order to work effectively with such a diverse group of people you will need to:

• relate to people of all ages from a range of social, cultureal and ethnic backgrounds
• relate to people who have a range of physical and mental abilities
• be fliexible enough to work with people who may have idfferent work styles, thinking styles or interpersonal styles from you
• be aware of any fears, prejudices and assumptions you have which may cause barriers between you and others in the workplace.
• be able to respond to differences with respect, understanding and empathy.
• use inclusive communication techniques both verbally and non-verbally.
   

  (Extract from BSBCMN315A Work Effectively With Diversity, business services resources learner guide, Pearson Education Aust. 2006)