Inclusion@Work Index 2021-2022

What is the Inclusion@Work Index?

In 2017 DCA partnered with Suncorp, and in 2019 Suncorp and Novartis created a national Inclusion@Work Index to track the state of inclusion in Australian workplaces over time. Now in its third iteration, DCA once again investigated 2 questions:

An image depicting the following text: How inclusive is the Australian workplace for a diversity of employees, and how has this changed over time? What impact does inclusion have on performance and wellbeing To do this, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,000 Australian workers. The survey is repeated biennially to map and track inclusion in Australian workplaces over time.

Our aspiration is to:

  • encourage Australian organisations to achieve inclusion in their workplaces
  • biennially track Australia’s progress (or lack of) in creating Inclusion@Work, and
  • encourage Australians to consider workplace inclusion for a broad set of workers – that is, not just workplace inclusion for men and women (most commonly considered by employers) but also by age, cultural background, caring responsibilities, disability status, Indigeneity, sexual orientation and gender identity, and more.

Explore the Findings

Support for Diversity & Inclusion

To what extent do workers support or oppose their organisation taking action to create a diverse and inclusive workplace?

Our research shows that Australian workers overwhelmingly support inclusion initiatives. In 2021, as in 2017 and 2019, three out of four Australian workers supported or strongly supported their organisation taking action to create a workplace that is diverse and inclusive (D&I) and only 3% of Australian workers opposed or strongly opposed their organisation taking action.

An image showing a table of statistics from 2017 to 2021. The statistics are as follows: 2021 43% Strongly Support 34% Support 19% Neither Support or Oppose 3% Oppose 1% Strongly Oppose 2019 43% Strongly Support 35% Support 19% Neither Support or Oppose 2% Oppose 1% Strongly Oppose 2017 37% Strongly Support 38% Support 22% Neither Support or Oppose 2% Oppose 1% Strongly Oppose

The State of Exclusion

Discrimination and harassment in the workplace are common – over a quarter of workers still report personally witnessing and/or experiencing discrimination and/or harassment, and everyday exclusionary behaviours the workplace.  

Each index we find workers from minority groups are significantly more likely to experience discrimination and/or harassment at work compared to workers from mainstream or majority groups.

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers consistently report the highest levels of exclusion. With 1 in 2 reporting experiencing some form of discrimination and/or harassment in the past year, they were twice as likely as non-Indigenous workers to have experienced discrimination and/or harassment at work in the last 12 months.

Workers from a non-Christian religious background, workers with disability and LGBTIQ+ workers also report significantly higher levels of experience of discrimination and/or harassment, compared to Christian workers, workers with no religion, workers without disability and non-LGBTIQ+ workers. 

An image of statistics showing the percentage of people who have experienced Harassment and/or Discrimination in Past year, 2021 50% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians 48% Non-Christian Religion 45% People with Disability 45%LGBTIQ+ 35% Younger Workers (under 30) 33% Carers 28% Culturally Diverse 28% Christian Religion 26% Women 26% Men 23% No Religion 23% Non-Indigenous 23% Non-LGBTIQ+ 22% People without Disability 21% Non-Carers 21% Non-Culturally Diverse 17% Older Workers (over 55)

Leading and Lagging Industries

In both 2017 and 2019, financial and insurance services was the leading industry for Inclusion@Work. This year saw a change – workers in education and training are now the most likely to report experiencing Inclusion@Work.

The education and training industry has one of the highest levels of reported organisational D&I activity and employee support for this, one of the highest percentages of employees working in inclusive teams and organisations and with inclusive managers, and the greatest overall workforce diversity relative to the Australian workforce average.

Meanwhile, for the third index in a row, workers in manufacturing were significantly less likely to experience Inclusion@Work. The industry has a low level of reported organisational D&I activity and employee support for this, a low percentage of inclusive teams, organisations and managers, and a high percentage of employees working in non-inclusive teams and organisations and with non-inclusive managers.

An image of statistics, comparing the Education and training sector to the manufacturing sector. Support: I strongly support or support my organisation taking action to create a diverse and inclusive workplace 82% - Education and training 68% - Manufacturing Action: My organisation is taking action to create a diverse and inclusive workplace 58% - Education and training 39% - Manufacturing Inclusive team: % who rated their team 4 or over out of 5 56% - Education and training 39% - Manufacturing Inclusive leaders: % who rated their managers 4 or over out of 5 40% - Education and training 17% - Manufacturing Inclusive organisations: % who rated their organisation 4 or over out of 5 46% - Education and training 25% - Manufacturing Non-Inclusive team: % who rated their team less than 3 out of 5 12% - Education and training 14% - Manufacturing Non-Inclusive leaders: % who rated their mangers less than 3 out of 5 16% - Education and training 21% - Manufacturing Non-Inclusive Organisations: % who rated their organisation less than 3 out of 5 17% - Education and training 36% - Manufacturing

Access the Research

For a 2-page summary on why Inclusion@Work is important for Australian workplaces, please download the Infographic

For more information on the key findings, please download the Synopsis Report

For more detailed information on all findings, the research methodology, and all research references, please download the Full Report. DCA members can access the Full Report by logging into the Members Only area of the DCA website.

INCLUSION@WORK INDEX logo is a Registered Trade Mark of Diversity Council Australia Limited.

Download Infographic (PDF 178KB)
Download Synopsis Report (PDF 5.2MB)
Frequently Asked Questions (PDF 709KB)
See A List of Inclusive Employers

Inclusion@Work Case Study

In 2017 DCA and Suncorp joined forces to create a national Inclusion@Work Index to track the state of inclusion in Australian workplaces over time. In the case study below, Founding Sponsor, Suncorp shares their experience of creating Inclusion@Work in practice.

Read Case Study

Methodology

The findings reported on in this website are based on the nationally representative on-line 2021-2022 Inclusion@Work survey of 3000 Australian workers (except where otherwise indicated).

The methodology is described in full detail in the Inclusion@Work Index Full Report, available on DCA website (see above).

Read More About Methodology
Full text description

LGBTIQ+

  • 3% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 12% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 29% Support
  • 54% Strongly Support

Non-LGBTIQ+

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose   
  • 18% Neither Oppose nor Support   
  • 34% Support 
  • 44% Strongly Support                                   

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

  • 3% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 12% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 36% Support 
  • 47% Strongly Support

Non-Indigenous        

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 18% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 34% Support
  • 45% Strongly Support

Under 30 Years

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 3% Oppose
  • 17% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 30% Support
  • 48% Strongly Support

Mid-Career (30-54)

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 17% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 35% Support
  • 44% Strongly Support

55+ Years

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 21% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 34% Support
  • 41% Strongly Support           

Women          

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 1% Oppose
  • 15% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 33% Support
  • 50% Strongly Support           

Men

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 3% Oppose
  • 21% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 35% Support
  • 39% Strongly Support                                   

People With Disability

  • 3% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 16% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 34% Support
  • 45% Strongly Support           

People Without Disability

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 18% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 34% Support
  • 45% Strongly Support                                               

Carers

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 16% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 35% Support
  • 46% Strongly Support           

Non-Carers

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 19% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 33% Support
  • 44% Strongly Support                                                           

Culturally Diverse

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 17% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 33% Support
  • 47% Strongly Support           

Non-Culturally Diverse

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 3% Oppose
  • 18% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 35% Support
  • 44% Strongly Support                       

Flex Workers

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 15% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 33% Support
  • 49% Strongly Support           

Non-Flex Workers

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 23% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 36% Support
  • 37% Strongly Support                                               

Non-Christian Religious Affiliation

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 21% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 25% Support
  • 50% Strongly Support           

Christian Religious Affiliation

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 3% Oppose
  • 17% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 36% Support
  • 43% Strongly Support           

No Religious Affiliation

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 18% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 33% Support
  • 46% Strongly Support           

                                                           

Managerial Level

  • 2% Strongly Oppose
  • 3% Oppose
  • 17% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 35% Support
  • 45% Strongly Support           

Non-Managerial Level

  • 1% Strongly Oppose
  • 2% Oppose
  • 19% Neither Oppose nor Support
  • 33% Support
  • 45% Strongly Support