This ground-breaking new report re-examines the state of play for culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women in leadership, focusing on how the intersections of two key marginalising characteristics - race and gender - are still operating in workplaces to lock CARM women out of leadership.
Culture & Religion
Today's workforce is comprised of people from numerous cultural, ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds and identities.
Increasingly, organisations are recognising the value of cultural diversity, cultural capability, and global workforce experience. Organisations that are culturally diverse and inclusive can broaden their 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.
Yet, culturally diverse talent are underrepresented in leadership ranks in Australia relative to their representation in the wider community and can face numerous bariers to career progression. 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 key definitions and the state of play for cultural diversity in Australia, the business case for cultural diversity and inclusion, some leading practices for creating culturally diverse and inclusive workplaces, case studies, and additional resources and reading on cultural diversity.
DCA Research
Realise. Inspire. Support. Energise. (RISE)
Realise. Inspire. Support. Energise. (RISE) is a groundbreaking project that aims to break down systemic barriers and provide direct pathways for culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women to reach senior leadership positions within Australian organisations.
Racism at Work: How Organisations Can Stand Up to and End Workplace Racism
This project is a response to the heightened global conversation about ‘race’ and racism that unfolded in 2020, and the resultant calls for organisations to do better when it comes to confronting and addressing racism.
[email protected] Index 2021-2022
The 2021-2022 [email protected] Index maps the state of inclusion in Australian organisations and provides the Australian business case for inclusion.
Counting Culture 2021
This research from DCA and the University of Sydney Business School has developed a standardised approach for defining, measuring, and reporting on workforce cultural diversity in a respectful, accurate and inclusive way.
D&I 101 - Collecting Diversity Data
DCA's Guide to Conducting a Diversity Survey - How to ask your employees about their diversity.
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.
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.
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.
[email protected] Index 2017-2018
The DCA-Suncorp [email protected] 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.
Case Studies
Settlement Services International: promoting gender and sexual diversity inclusion with employees and clients
Case Study
24 Oct 2022
How SSI approached the nuanced differences that can arise with an intersectional approach to Diversity and Inclusion.
How refugee inclusion allowed IKEA Australia to better serve their market, create a values-driven culture
Case Study
24 May 2022
Deep dive into how refugee inclusion allowed IKEA Australia to better serve their market, lead on sustainability and create a values-driven culture.
Herbert Smith Freehills taking action to improve ethnic diversity across the firm
Case Study
20 Sep 2021
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.
NAB’s African Australian Employment Program
Case Study
17 Sep 2020
NAB’s African Australian Inclusion Program provides six months of work experience, to help people find meaningful employment.
News
DCA shines a light on the experiences of Culturally and Racially Marginalised Women at work this International Women’s Day.
Media releases
07 Mar 2023
Today, in the lead up to International Women’s Day, Diversity Council Australia is launching ground-breaking research examining the state of play for culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women in leadership.
New project to take an intersectional approach to women in leadership
Media releases
08 Sep 2022
DCA, SSI and CEW have received funding under the Women's Leadership and Development Program for a project to address the systemic barriers restricting CARM women’s upward mobility into leadership roles in Australian organisations.
Racism at work: a call to anti-racist action for Australian organisations
News articles
05 Apr 2022
On March 21 2022 the world commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In Australia, we celebrated Harmony Day instead.
Perspectives
Multicultural Framework Review – Terms of Reference (Draft)
Submissions
20 Mar 2023
DCA has made a submission on the Draft Terms of Reference for the Multicultural Framework Review.
DCA's Submission to ALRC Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws Inquiry
Submissions
03 Mar 2023
DCA has made a submission in response to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws Inquiry.
Celebrating International Day for People of African Descent: It’s a matter of non-tokenistic inclusion
Blog
25 Aug 2022
August 31st is International Day for People of African Descent (IDPOAD). Read on to find out more, and how to observe the day.
Coming events
25 Jul 2023
We invite members in Canberra to join DCA's CEO, Lisa Annese for a presentation of our latest research on leadership pathways for culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women.
14 Sep 2023
We invite members in Perth to join DCA's CEO, Lisa Annese for a presentation of our latest research on leadership pathways for culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women.
Webcasts from past events
07 Mar 2023
As we prepare to celebrate IWD, join us for the launch of our new research exploring the experiences of culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women who are in, or aspiring to, senior leadership in Australia.
21 Mar 2022
The heightened global conversation about race and racism and the resultant calls for Australian organisations to do better when it comes to confronting and addressing racism has led to DCA’s latest research report, 'Racism at Work', conducted in partnership with sponsors, ARUP, Diageo, IKEA Australia, QBE, and Relationships Australia NSW.