DCA, in partnership with the University of Sydney Business School is currently conducting a research project to understand what is the most inclusive and informative way for Australian organisations to ‘count culture’. This research will be released in March 2021.
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.
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
Intersections at Work
Pride in Diversity and DCA joined forces on this project as their respective research on LGBTQ workplace inclusion had revealed that culturally diverse LGBTQ workers had unique workplace experiences that warranted deeper investigation.
Inclusion@Work Index 2019-2020
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.
Creating inclusive multi-faith workplaces
This resource provides guidance to Australian workplaces about how to deal with a range of common faith-related queries, and also to provide workplaces with principles to help balance issues where conflicting rights might intersect.
Counting Culture
This practical guide is designed to assist Australian business map the cultural diversity of their workforce.
D&I 101 - Conducting a Diversity Survey
DCA's Guide to Conducting a Diversity Survey - How to ask your employees about their diversity.
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.
Case Studies
NAB’s African Australian Employment Program
NAB’s African Australian Inclusion Program provides six months of work experience, to help people find meaningful employment.
Herbert Smith Freehills taking action to improve ethnic diversity across the firm (2020)
In the wake of the tragic killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Herbert Smith Freehills’ CEO and the broader leadership team began a deeper conversation with their people about improving ethnic diversity across the firm.
News
It's time for real action against racism
News articles
11 Jun 2020
DCA joined 30 other high profile community organisations asking the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to work together to tackle racism.
Intersections at Work: Understanding the Experiences of Culturally Diverse LGBTQ Talent at Work
Media releases
17 Mar 2020
Diversity Council Australia (DCA) and Pride in Diversity have today released a joint report into the workplace inclusion experiences of culturally diverse LGBTQ workers.
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.
Perspectives
Call me by my name | COVID -19
Blog
06 Apr 2020
As coronavirus panic sparks increased racism DCA CEO Lisa Annese reminds us of the unity, kindness, and respect needed to endure this human crisis.
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.
Coming events
09 Dec 2021
What are the experiences of Australian workers when it comes to inclusion? DCA will launch the third Inclusion at Work Index which maps and tracks inclusion in Australian workplaces.
Webcasts from past events
26 Oct 2020
The notion of Australia being the land of the ‘fair go’ is deeply ingrained in Australia’s national psyche, but do we really all have the same opportunities? Does class make a difference to workplace inclusion?
20 Oct 2020
This Webinar provides an update on our latest D&I research on Counting Culture and the DCA-Suncorp Inclusion@Work Index.