How inclusive are Australian workplaces for a diversity of employees, and how has this changed over time? What impact does inclusion have on performance and wellbeing? The 2019-2020 Inclusion@Work Index surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,000 Australian workers to find out.
Culture & Faith
Today's workforce comprises of people from all manner of cultural, ethnic, religious and national backgrounds and identities.
Cultural diversity, cultural capability, and global experience in senior executive ranks are increasingly being recognised as valuable, sought after assets. A culturally diverse and capable leadership team can assist an organisation to broaden its strategic perspective, identify and enter new local and global markets, innovate, achieve business goals in culturally diverse business settings, and generate high performing multi-national and multicultural teams.
DCA defines cultural diversity as:
The variation between people in terms of how they identify on a range of dimensions including ancestry, ethnicity, ethno-religiosity, language, national origin, race, and/or religion.
Employers can do a lot to make the most of the talents of a culturally diverse workforce.
In this section you will find information about:
DCA Research
CURRENT RESEARCH: Understanding the experiences of Culturally Diverse LGBTIQ+ Talent at Work
CURRENT RESEARCH UNDERWAY: Help us understand the experiences of culturally diverse LGBTIQ+ people at work. Survey closes 2 October 2019.
Change At Work
For well over thirty years, initiatives designed to improve diversity and inclusion (D&I) have been a priority for organisations – but are the plethora of D&I initiatives actually creating the organisational change they aspire to?
Cracking the Glass-Cultural Ceiling
DCA's latest report explores why so few culturally diverse females reach top leadership positions in Australia and what organisations can do to better recognise the skill and ambition of culturally diverse female talent.
Inclusion@Work Index 2017-2018
The DCA-Suncorp Inclusion@Work Index 2017-2018 is a landmark study, providing the first-ever national benchmarks for Australian workplaces in regards to the age, cultural background, disability status, gender, Indigenous background, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity of workers.
Capitalising on Culture and Gender in ASX leadership
In this landmark research, Diversity Council Australia and Deakin University, with the financial support of CPA Australia, tracked the extent of cultural diversity among women in leadership in ASX companies from 2004 to 2015.
Leading in the Asian Century: A National Scorecard of Australia’s Workforce Asia Capability
In ground breaking research, DCA has generated the first ever National Scorecard of Australia’s Workforce Asia Capability.
WordsAtWork - Building inclusion through the power of language
DCA has developed a new Words At Work campaign for workplaces to show how inclusive language can improve workplace culture and drive productivity.
Capitalising on Culture - ASX Directors 2004-2013
Diversity Council Australia partnered with Deakin University on Australian first research to investigate cultural diversity in ASX Boards over the past decade.
Capitalising on Culture
In an Australian first, DCA's new research called Capitalising on Culture: A Study of the Cultural Origins of ASX 200 Business Leaders and released on 23 October 2013, reveals the cultural origins of board members and senior executives in our major listed companies.
Cracking the Cultural Ceiling
People from Asian backgrounds are well represented in entry level and mid-level jobs in Australian business, yet they are significantly under-represented in leadership roles, representing an enormous waste of talent, according to DCA's research launched August 2014.
Capitalising on Culture Pilot Survey
Capitalising on Culture showed an encouraging depth and breadth of cultural and linguistic diversity at the most senior levels and in the leadership pipeline, but also revealed a need to capitalise more on talent who possess a non-English speaking cultural identity.
Other Research
Islamophobia in Australia II
The 2019 Islamophobia in Australia report suggests that hate incidents are not just a problem for Muslims, but will need national engagement if Australia is to maintain social cohesion and live up to its multicultural legacy.
Stronger Together: the impact of family separation on refugees and humanitarian migrants in Australia
This report from Oxfam Australia looks at the long-term economic benefits Australia stands to gain by increasing the intake of refugees.
Making the most of the skills and experience of migrants and refugees
This report explores the economic and social imperative for better utilisation of skills and experience of migrants and refugees in Queensland, what is getting in our way, and how we might move forward to reap the benefits.
Birthplaces, languages, ancestries and religions of Australian CEOs
Why do men born in the USA, UK or Canada have a greater chance of becoming an Australian CEO than those who are locally born?
Beyond the Pale: Cultural Diversity on ASX 100 Boards
This report presents a qualitative study of the cultural diversity of Australian boardrooms.
Mckinsey (2017) Delivering through diversity
This report from McKinsey research reinforces the link between diversity and company financial performance—and suggests how organizations can craft better inclusion strategies for a competitive edge.
Intersectionality Matters: Guide to engaging immigrant and refugee communities to prevent violence against women
The Intersectionality Matters Guide aims to help people and organisations develop violence prevention approaches, strategies and activities in a way that meaningfully engages immigrant and refugee communities.
News
DCA launches a new online destination for workplace diversity and inclusion
Media releases
19 Feb 2020
Diversity Council Australia is excited to be launching Australia’s first online platform collaborating with a variety of service providers in the diversity and inclusion (D&I) space.
Proposed religious discrimination bills still need more work
Media releases
31 Jan 2020
DCA has today outlined its concerns that the second draft of the Australian Government’s religious discrimination bills could stop Australian businesses fostering inclusive cultures and will be difficult for workplaces to manage.
DCA's response to Herald Sun article on Christmas
Media releases
19 Dec 2019
Diversity Council Australia is disappointed with the inaccurate headline and article that has appeared in the Herald Sun and other papers today. At no stage has DCA ever urged bosses not to mention Christmas.
Perspectives
Submission: Religious Discrimination Legislation - Second Exposure Draft 2020
Submissions
29 Jan 2020
DCA strongly supports individuals being protected from discrimination and harassment because of their religious belief and we proactively support our members in creating workplaces where religious belief is afforded the same dignity and respect as other attributes of a person’s identity.
In good faith
Podcasts
09 Dec 2019
As debates about religious expression continue, what’s it like to be a person of faith in modern Australia? We ask lawyer Daniel Wakim and DCA’s own Mariam Veiszadeh in our podcast.
We need to develop a more nuanced understanding of cultural diversity
Opinion pieces
01 Nov 2019
Cultural diversity is more than just how a census data point defines you, and it’s more than just your race or ethnicity – it is also about the way someone else defines you, and how you identify, with all the complexity that entails.
Webcasts from past events
Sponsored by Suncorp
05 Dec 2019
What are the experiences of Australian workers when it comes to inclusion? DCA launched the second Inclusion at Work Index which maps and tracks inclusion in Australian workplaces.
29 Oct 2019
Is backlash good for diversity and inclusion? This is the question moderator Tony Jones posed at this year's DCA & MLC LIfe Insurance Annual Diversity Debate.