An Introduction to Inclusion@Work

What is the Inclusion@Work Index?

In 2017 DCA and Suncorp partnered to create a national Inclusion@Work Index to track the state of inclusion in Australian workplaces over time. Now in its second iteration, DCA, Suncorp, and Novartis have joined forces to once again investigate two questions:

investigating two questions - see text description

Text description

  1. How inclusive is the Australian workplace for a diversity of employees, and how has this changed over time?
  2. 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. 

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 2019, as in 2017, three out of four Australian workers supported or strongly supported their organisation taking action to create a workplace which is diverse and inclusive (D&I) and only 3% of Australian workers opposed or strongly opposed their organisation taking action.

Support for Diversity & Inclusion statistics - see text description

Text description

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

Filter results by category

The State of Exclusion

Australian organisations need to do more to combat harassment and discrimination, particularly of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers, and workers with disability.

In 2019, as in 2017, these workers experienced the highest rates of workplace discrimination and harassment of any demographic group - almost one in two (48%) Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers had personally experienced at least one incident of harassment and/or discrimination in the past 12 months. This was also the case for workers with disability.

% Who have experienced Harassment and/or Discrimination in Past year, 2019

Text description

% Who have experienced Harassment and/or Discrimination in Past year, 2019

  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Background 48%
  • Non-Indigenous 24%
     
  • People with Disability 48%
  • People without Disability 23% 
     
  • Non-Christian Religion 43%
  • Christian Religion 23%
  • No Religion 25%
     
  • Young workers aged under 30 40%
  • Older workers aged over 55 18% 
  • LGBTIQ+ 40%
  • Non-LGBTIQ+ 18% 
  • Carers 35%
  • Non-Carers 22% 
  • Culturally diverse 28%
  • Non-Culturally diverse 24% 
  • Women 28%
  • Men 25% 

Filter results by category

Leading and Lagging Industries

In both 2017 and 2019, workers in Financial and Insurance Services were significantly more likely to experience Inclusion@Work, while workers in Manufacturing were significantly less likely to.

Finance and Insurance Services was the industry sector in which workers were most likely to report that their organisation was taking action to create a diverse and inclusive workplace, and that they supported this. While Manufacturing had the lowest level of reported organisational activity and support for organisational D&I action.

Text description

Support: I strongly support or support my organisation taking action to create a diverse and inclusive workplace

  • Financial and Insurance - 83%
  • Manufacturing - 67% 

Action: My organisation is taking action to create a diverse and inclusive workplace

  • Financial and Insurance - 73%
  • Manufacturing - 36% 

Inclusive team: % who rated their team 4 or over out of 5

  • Financial and Insurance - 55%
  • Manufacturing - 36% 

Inclusive leaders: % who rated their managers 4 or over out of 5

  • Financial and Insurance - 42%
  • Manufacturing - 23% 

Inclusive organisations: % who rated their organisation 4 or over out of 5

  • Financial and Insurance - 49%
  • Manufacturing - 31% 

Non-Inclusive team: % who rated their team less than 3 out of 5

  • Financial and Insurance - 7%
  • Manufacturing - 21% 

Non-Inclusive leaders: % who rated their mangers less than 3 out of 5

  • Financial and Insurance - 19%
  • Manufacturing - 24%

Less than 3 out of 5

  • Financial and Insurance - 13%
  • Manufacturing - 30%

Filter results by industry

 

Access the Research

  • For a two page version of the Inclusion@Work Index key findings, 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.

Download the Infographic  Download the Synopsis Report

Join the Index

Would You Like to Benchmark the State of Inclusion in Your Workplace?

The next Inclusion@WorkI DCA Member Index will be conducted in 2021. 

If you would like to participate in the next Inclusion@Work DCA Member Index, please email research@dca.org.au to express interest and receive further information. 

Access Analytics

gauge icon

You will have the opportunity to measure diversity and inclusion in your workforce and its impact, and compare findings to national benchmarks. Specifically, you will access data points for:

  1. Diversity: The diversity of your workforce
  2. Inclusion: Your employees' experience of workplace inclusion
  3. Impact: The impact of workplace inclusion on team and employee outcome
  4. WGEA: Employer of Choice for Gender Equality Citation employee survey questions
  5. Leading Practice Benchmark: Your diversity and inclusion results compared to a DCA-Member Leading Practice benchmark.

This project aims to map and track the state of inclusion in the Australian workforce and in leading D&I employers, for workers from a range of demographic backgrounds (e.g., Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, age, cultural background, disability status, gender, sexual orientation).

* Please note that nominal costs are associated with taking part in this survey.

Be an Inclusive Employer

flag icon

Inclusive employers that participate in the DCA Member Inclusion@Work DCA Member Index can show their commitment to diversity and inclusion with the Inclusive Employer logo.

Inclusive Employer 2019-2020 logo

Inclusive Employers

Inclusive Employers: Committed and Taking Action

Every two years, Australian organisations are able to participate in DCA’s Inclusion@Work Index, which enables them to measure diversity and inclusion in their workforce and compare findings to a DCA-Member Leading Practice Benchmark and a National Index Benchmark (derived from a nationally representative survey of 3000 Australian workers).

Organisations that participate in the Inclusion@Work DCA Member Index, if deemed eligible, are able to show their commitment to diversity and inclusion by displaying a time dated Inclusive Employer logo.

To be deemed eligible as an Inclusive Employer 2021-2022, participating DCA members must:

  1. invite at least 60% of their employees to participate, and
  2. Show that they are active and committed to inclusion by achieving results that exceed the National Index Benchmark on at least five out of six of the following measures:

(i) Awareness; (ii) Engagement; (iii) Inclusive Organisational Climate; (iv) Inclusive Leadership; (v) Inclusive Team; (vi) Exclusion.  

See a list of inclusive employers

Learn About D&I

What are Diversity and Inclusion

What are Diversity and Inclusion? - see text description

Text description

What is Diversity?

Diversity is the mix of people in your organisation. Diversity refers to all the ways in which we differ (e.g., Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background, age education, gender, profession).

 

What is Inclusion?

Inclusion is getting this mix to work. Inclusion occurs when a diversity of people are respected, connected, progressing and contributing to organisational success.

Infograph about inclusion - see text description

Text description

Diversity refers to all the differences between people in how they identify in relation to their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background, age, caring responsibilities, cultural background, disability, gender, LGBTIQ+ status, socio-economic status, and faith and religion (Social Identity), and their profession, education, work experiences, and organisational role (Professional Identity).

Different people will experience inclusion differently - see text description

Text description

Inclusion occurs when a diversity of people are respected, connected, progressing and contributing to organisational success.


Respected. Inclusion occurs when a diversity of people at work feel valued and respected for who they are.

Connected. Inclusion occurs when a diversity of people feel connected to their co-worker, treated as an insider, and so have a sense of belonging.

Progressing. Inclusion occurs when a diversity of people at work have opportunities to develop their career and progress.

Contributing. Inclusion occurs when a diversity of people can contribute their talents and energies to the organisation.


Importantly, this definition of inclusion focuses on characteristics which have a demonstrable link to positive business outcomes (e.g., productivity, performance, engagement, innovation).

Remember! Different people will experience inclusion DIFFERENTLY – being respected at work may look and feel different for a young Anglo-Celtic graduate and an older Chinese-Australian executive. So it's important to learn about each other's identities (e.g. age, cultural background, gender) and how this may (or may not) influence our view and experience of Inclusion@Work.

Why Inclusion Matters

Our Inclusion@Work Index found that Inclusion continues to matter to the majority of Australian workers, benefits everyone (not just people from target or minority groups), and boosts employee performance and wellbeing.

Read about Why Inclusion Matters

Inclusion@Work Case Studies

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, and Supporting Sponsor, Novartis, share their experiences of creating Inclusion@Work in practice:

  • Inclusion@Work at Suncorp
  • Celebrating Life - Novartis introduces equal parental leave globally

Read case studies

Methodology

The findings reported on in this website are based on the nationally representative on-line 2019-2020 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