Male Champions of Change Diversity and Inclusion Workshop, 2017 AFAC Conference

While AFAC have long recognised the need for a diverse and inclusive  sector as fundamental to maintaining the capability of the Fire and Emergency Services workforce, changes have been slow to occur over the past 20 years. As a result, AFAC has taken a proactive approach to increasing gender diversity and the type of workplace and culture that encourages this across Fire and Emergency Services in Australia.

The Male Champions of Change initiative has engaged several leaders of Fire and Emergency Services to lead the way, empowering them to commit to an agenda that encompasses Diversity and Inclusion in their respective service areas, to the  establishment of a Charter on gender equity, advancement of women and embedding respectful and  inclusive cultures  and to foster change  across the whole Sector.

Heather Price and Symmetra are honoured to be working with Fire and Emergency Services to support their leaders to gain an understanding of what constitutes inclusion in the 21st century and the types of barriers that can stand in the way in their sector of driving collaboration, performance and innovation through inclusion. What we hope to achieve at the AFAC Conference on 7 September is that leaders leave  with a clear vision of what best practice in inclusion looks like and an appetite to drive this agenda forward across the Sector.