The NSW Public Sector Capability Framework (Capability Framework) is a foundational tool that helps the public sector attract, recruit, develop and keep a skilled, adaptable workforce. Including cultural capability into the Capability Framework enables us to embed the knowledge, skills, and abilities you need to perform your role in ways that respect the varied cultures and backgrounds of your colleagues and the community we serve.
This fact sheet explores these key topics:
Capabilities are the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform your role. Cultural capability as a broad term encompasses cultural awareness, cultural safety and cultural competence. Importantly, updates to the Capability Framework relating to cultural capability now clearly outline the behaviours and actions that suggest effective performance at each capability level.
The Capability Framework gives the NSW Public Sector a shared language to define the capabilities needed to perform work at different levels across its large and diverse workforce. Embedding cultural capability into the Capability Framework strengthens our ability to deliver services that reflect and respect NSW’s diverse communities and reinforces the government sector’s core values of Integrity, Trust, Service and Accountability, as set out in the Government Sector Employment Act 2013.
We have updated the Capability Framework, including cultural capability, to keep pace with technological, societal, and organisational changes that are already shaping how we work.
Including cultural capability into the revised Capability Framework, fulfills a commitment made in the NSW Closing the Gap 2025-2028 Implementation Plan (PDF 303.58KB).
The Cultural Capability Guide (the Guide) released in 2023, helps you shape an inclusive employee experience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by strengthening cultural capability in the NSW public sector. The Guide explains what cultural capability means and gives you practical tips and guidance to apply it in your workplace.
You can also strengthen your cultural capability by taking part in the Everyone’s Business cultural capability training, an eLearning program designed for all NSW public sector employees, along with any additional cultural capability programs or resources your agency provides.
The revised Capability Framework embeds cultural capability throughout its structure, integrating behavioural indicators that reflect the three key elements of cultural capability - cultural awareness, cultural safety, and cultural competency.
You will find that these changes appear both as new behavioural indicators and integrated with existing behavioural indicators and some examples of these inclusions are:
| Capability level | Behavioural indicator |
|---|---|
| Foundational | Be aware of your values, culture and biases and their impact on others. |
| Adept | Promote diversity, inclusion and cultural safety in your organisation, for colleagues, customers and stakeholders. |
| Highly advanced | Inspire others to become inclusive, culturally capable leaders by consistently modelling inclusive behaviours. |
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