A special edition report of DCA’s Inclusion@Work Index 2021-2022 titled Mapping the State of Flex in the Australian Workforce highlights a positive link between flexible work and workplace inclusion and shows that the stigma around care, gender and flexible work continues.
Inclusion
Beyond Diversity Towards Inclusion
Inclusion occurs when a diversity of people (e.g. of different ages, cultural backgrounds, genders) feel valued and respected, have access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute their perspectives and talents to improve their organisation.
Creating an inclusive workplace is fundamental to maximising diversity and creating successful organisations in today’s complex global environment. DCA has developed a number of resources to help improve inclusive practice and thus lift performance and wellbeing.
DCA Research
D&I 101 - Collecting Diversity Data
DCA's Guide to Conducting a Diversity Survey - How to ask your employees about their diversity.
Gari Yala (Speak the Truth): Centreing the experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work
New research from the Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research and Diversity Council Australia is speaking truth to Australian employers about the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.
Class at Work
New research from Diversity Council Australia (DCA), has found strong evidence that people from self-identified lower classes experience more exclusion, discrimination and harassment at work than people from higher classes.
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.
In 2020, Do We Still Really Need Workplace Gender Equality?
It’s been over 100 years since the first IWD and we’ve come a long way in creating gender equality – but we still have a long way to go. In 2020, gender inequalities continue to limit the ability of both men and women to be respected and to contribute at work and at home.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Building Inclusion - An Evidence-Based Model of Inclusive Leadership
DCA’s new study, Building Inclusion: An Evidence-Based Model of Inclusive Leadership sheds valuable light on the need for inclusive leadership and what it takes build more inclusive leaders.
Benchmarking Diversity and Inclusion Practices in Australia
Despite the well-known business benefits of D&I, many Australian organisations do not adequately resource their D&I function or put in place measureable goals or accountabilities for their D&I activities.
The Diversity & Inclusion Study
The study surveyed more than 100 diversity managers and human resources leaders in Australia and New Zealand to learn the profile of diversity functions within organisations and the professionals leading and implementing diversity strategy.
Other Research
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?
Algorithmic Bias? An Empirical Study into Apparent Gender-Based Discrimination in the Display of STEM Career Ads
Despite explicit intentions to be gender neutral, a Facebook ad for STEM careers was shown more often to men than women, potentially due to economic forces and competition among advertisers
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.
Cloverpop: Hacking Diversity with Inclusive Decision Making (2017)
Teams outperform individual decision makers 66% of the time, and decision making improves as team diversity increases.
Case Studies
CommBank’s AdvantAge
CommBank’s age and life stage employee network – called AdvantAge.
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.
NAB’s Accessibility Action Plan (2017-2018)
The 2017 – 2018 AAP lays out NAB’s commitments to its customers, people and community, and was created in consultation with community groups such as the Australian Network on Disability.
NAB's Emerging Indigenous Executive Leaders Program
NAB has led the development of the EIELP, a program that has shown Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander employees that their Indigenous culture has many things to offer the boardroom.
News
Experienced HR Exec Chris Lamb to join DCA Board as Deputy Chair
Media releases
20 Sep 2021
DCA is delighted to announce that Chris Lamb is returning to the DCA Board, this time as Deputy Chair and Chair of the Board HR Sub-Committee.
The onus should be on workplaces to stamp out sexual harassment, not victims to report it
Media releases
31 Aug 2021
The Respect at Work Bill is set to be debated in parliament today, but according to Ms Annese, while a step in the right direction, in its current form the Respect at Work Bill is insufficient to really stamp out sexual harassment.
Australia isn’t the land of the fair go at work if you are in the lower class
Media releases
26 Oct 2020
EMBARGOED UNTIL 12AM 26 OCTOBER 2020: New research, released today from Diversity Council Australia, has found strong evidence that people from self-identified lower classes experience more exclusion, discrimination and harassment at work than people from higher classes.
Perspectives
Vaccination objections: Not a diversity and inclusion issue
Opinion pieces
28 Sep 2021
Some people have gone so far as to suggest that workplace policies that ask people to be vaccinated before they return to the office are a form of discrimination against the unvaccinated. And it’s this claim that I think we need to address, and to explain why this is not the case.
An open letter to Trumpists: progress and inclusion are the only way to stop the chaos in 2021
Opinion pieces
01 Feb 2021
Political unrest in the US, compounded by the raging pandemic, has ensured that 2021’s coverage has been plagued by many of the same words that dominated headlines last year: Protest. Tribalism. Fear.
Class has the strongest link to inclusion at work, so why aren’t we talking about it?
Opinion pieces
26 Oct 2020
According to DCA's CEO, Lisa Annese, we need to measure class, so we can understand how class impacts our experiences of work and why. And we need to ensure that organisational initiatives reach and positively impact people from all classes.
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.
24 Feb 2022
Preventing sexual harassment is key to creating safe workplaces for everyone. In the lead up to IWD, we investigate how senior women can have the necessary conversations and put the issue on the leadership agenda, to start their organisation on the path to making positive change.
28 Feb 2022
At this event, we will deep dive on a D&I leading practice case study
17 Mar 2022
At this event, DCA will launch new research on how to combat racism in the workplace. The Black Lives Matter movement is pushing organisations to do better when it comes to confronting racism in the workplace. We will look at the cost of racism to workplaces, and consider how organisations can effectively respond to racism at work.
29 Mar 2022
At this event, we will hear about the latest Closing the Gap report, drilling down on progress to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in work.
13 Apr 2022
DCA works in partnership with members to generate ground breaking diversity research that enables Australian organisations to fully leverage the benefits of a diverse talent pool. Only DCA members can access the research reports in full. Summary information only is available to the general public. DCA research is ahead of the curve, drives business improvement, is practice focused, speaks to the Australian context and considers all diversity dimensions.
28 Apr 2022
As we return to COVID-normal, are we in danger of creating a two class system where those who return to face-to-face work leave behind those who continue to work virtually? At this event, we will discover how organisations can create more equitable hybrid work models.
03 May 2022
Childlessness, not by choice, is estimated to affect a quarter of Australian woman as well as significant numbers of men, trans and non-binary people. Being childless can in fact be a lifelong grief for some that impacts every facet of life, including work. At this event, we will investigate childlessness as an emerging diversity issue and how workplaces can be more inclusive of those affected.
31 May 2022
DCA's Anna McPhee Memorial Oration honours the late Anna McPhee, DCA’s former Chair and lifetime advocate for diversity and equal opportunity. The Oration is a thought-leading event staged in Melbourne featuring a high profile and skilled public speaker delivering a keynote address on an important D&I topic.
09 Jun 2022
DCA works in partnership with members to generate ground breaking diversity research that enables Australian organisations to fully leverage the benefits of a diverse talent pool. Only DCA members can access the research reports in full. Summary information only is available to the general public. DCA research is ahead of the curve, drives business improvement, is practice focused, speaks to the Australian context and considers all diversity dimensions.
23 Jun 2022
At this event, we will explore truth telling in the workplace, drawing on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as DCA research findings on their experiences of harassment and/or discrimination at work.
13 Oct 2022
At this event, we will discover how to improve managers' understanding of common mental ill health issues in the workplace and build their skills to support staff experiencing a mental health condition.
Webcasts from past events
07 Apr 2021
Technological developments and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way we work – and even how we recruit people.
Sponsored by HSBC Australia
31 Mar 2021
Inclusion at work occurs when a diversity of people (e.g. of different ages, cultural backgrounds, genders) feel valued and respected, have access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute their perspectives and talents to improve their organisation.