Most Australian workers want their employers to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces, but new research suggests many organisations are struggling to turn that support into action.
Research from Diversity Council Australia found three in four Australian workers support or strongly support their organisation taking action to create a diverse and inclusive workplace.
But research from the Australian HR Institute found only half of HR professionals believed their organisation’s leaders viewed diversity, equity and inclusion as a priority.
The findings point to a gap between support for workplace diversity and the work required to make employees feel included once they are hired.
Diversity makes better workplaces
Talent acquisition adviser Rose Voce, who has more than 20 years’ experience in recruitment, said diversity could help create a stronger workplace culture.
“Diversity also brings a wider range of skills, experiences, backgrounds and ways of thinking.”
Ms Voce believes companies need to be proactive in their efforts to foster diversity in their workplaces.
“Organisations need to have a strategic approach to diversity and inclusion, including education, workshops and inclusive recruitment practices,” Ms Voce said.
Koort Connection founder Shelley Farmer, a Noongar Wongi woman, advocates for greater cultural safety and inclusion in Australian workplaces.
“Aboriginal people and people from diverse cultural backgrounds need to genuinely feel culturally safe, heard, respected and able to contribute,” Ms Farmer said, adding representation alone was not enough.
“Representation is important, but representation without genuine influence can quickly become tokenism,” Ms Farmer said.
Workforce training is essential
HR professional Toby Chan said creating a diverse workforce was only the first step.
“It’s not simply about asking how much more diverse we can make our workforce, we also need to ask what happens to those people once they join,” Ms Chan said.
One of the biggest challenges is to make diversity training more engaging and less repetitive. There’s also the challenge of putting training into practice.
Ms Farmer said recruitment was only part of the challenge for Aboriginal employees.
“Diversity might get Aboriginal people through the door, but cultural safety determines whether we feel safe enough to have a genuine voice once we’re there,” Ms Farmer said.
Echoing that, Ms Chan said employees who felt more connected to their workplace were also more likely to be invested in their work.
Change starts at the top
“Inclusion has to be modelled from the top,” Ms Chan said.
“Leaders have an enormous influence over their teams, and if leaders aren’t demonstrating inclusive behaviours themselves, it becomes very difficult to create a genuinely inclusive culture.”
Ms Farmer said inclusive leadership also depended on everyday workplace practices.
“Cultural safety is built in everyday interactions – through leadership, relationships, supervision, policies and how organisations respond when Aboriginal people raise concerns,” she said.
Talent adviser Gail Rogers said employers could also take a more proactive approach to recruitment, and that having diverse interview panels could help reduce unconscious bias in candidate selection.
However, there are challenges around changing the mindset of recruiters and the requirements of the hires.
“The biggest challenge is changing hiring managers’ thought processes towards interviews,” Ms Rogers said.
“The focus was on if the person does the job safely, and will they fit the team. Now the focus is on behaviours, knowledge and values alignment.”
What the law says
Australian employers also have legal obligations to protect workers from discrimination.
A Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson said employers cannot discriminate against employees or prospective employees on the basis of protected attributes including race, colour, sex and age.
The Ombudsman provides resources to help employers understand workplace discrimination and create more inclusive workplaces.
A person who believes an employer has taken adverse action against them for discriminatory reasons can contact the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Ra Castel
I am a journalist student at ECU, YouTuber and Content producer with over 249K views on TikTok, 25K+ views on Instagram reels and posts and 4k views on YouTube. My intent for my works to progress into more video journalism that will cover all sorts of topics from entertainment and breaking news. Other journalist mediums I am interested in diving into are podcasting, radio and content creation. You can find me on all social media platforms and Linkedin for more content.
