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Updates In Progress
This section of our website is being updated as of May, 2025.
You may see some changes this month, and it may look a little messy as we tidy it up.
Our aim is to make this members-only section of our website even more accessible and useful than ever!
Ideas or feedback on our content?
Send us an email at: dpa@diversitypractitionersassocation.com
This page contains three sections, scroll down to find each section, or use the links below to be taken straight to the section you need today.
Tools and Resources
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Access past editions of DPA’s member newsletter here. In past editions we’ve shared top DEI related news pieces and handy resources for DEI Practitioners.
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Re-thinking Return (2016) UN Women Australia and Autopia spin the business case for gender diversity around. Rather than considering the benefits of diversity and increased female participation, they consider the cost of not taking this approach. A compelling read. https://autopia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Re-thinking-Return_.pdf
39 Reasons Why Diversity Matters, by Catalyst. A beautiful infographic that sets out the business case for diversity. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/diversity-matters Don’t forget to download the full Report too: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/why-diversity-matters
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The Sleeping Giant: A Social Return on Investment Report on Supply Nation Certified Suppliers by Supply Nation (a lead directory of Indigenous enterprises). A report on the success of their listed businesses, using an innovative ROI calculation method called social return on investment. http://www.supplynation.org.au/resources/Social_Return_on_Investment_report
The Workplace Gender Equality Procurement Principles took effect for all Federal Government contracts from 1 August 2013. The Principles provide a unique insight into how organisations might approach influencing the gender equality of their supply chain (and talent pool). https://www.wgea.gov.au/about-legislation/workplace-gender-equality-procurement-principles
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Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations the famous 1990 journal article from the formidable Joan Acker, “Abstract jobs and hierarchies, common concepts in organizational thinking, assume a disembodies and universal worker. This worker is actually a man; men's bodies, sexuality, and relationships to procreation and paid work are subsumed in the image of the worker.” https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/089124390004002002
Prejudice Reduction: What Works? A Review and Assessment of Research and Practice a fantastic article from 2009, Prejudice Reduction: What Works? A Review and Assessment of Research and Practice. The authors conclude that “the causal effects of many widespread prejudice-reduction interventions, such as workplace diversity training and media campaigns, remain unknown. Although some intergroup contact and cooperation interventions appear promising, a much more rigorous and broad-ranging empirical assessment of prejudice-reduction strategies is needed to determine what works.” http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163607?journalCode=psych
Global Diversity & Inclusion Benchmarks: Standards for Organizations Around the World (GDIB) has been developed by 95 Expert Panelists. GDIB helps organizations determine strategy and measure progress in managing diversity and fostering inclusion. It is a free downloadable 80-page booklet. (NOTE: at the time of updating these links, the following website was under construction check back frequently for updates and/or use your preferred web search tool to find the resource) https://globaldeibenchmarks.org/
Creating a Competency Model for Diversity and Inclusion Practitioners. Drawing from the experience of the senior executives of The Conference Board Council on Workforce Diversity this report sets out a new and unique competency model for 21st century D&I practitioners. https://www.conference-board.org/pdf_free/councils/TCBCP005.pdf
Domestic & Family Violence
· Not Now, Not Ever: putting an end to domestic and family violence in Queensland (2015) The Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence in Queensland was requested to deliver a report defining the domestic and family violence landscape in Queensland and make recommendations to inform the development of a long term vision and strategy for the Government and community to rid the state of this insidious form of violence. https://www.qld.gov.au/community/documents/getting-support-health-social-issue/dfv-report-vol-one.pdf
· Domestic Violence and the Workplace: Employee, Employer and Union Resources (2011) A project of the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse (ADFVC) funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations 2011
http://www.csu.edu.au/division/hr/equity-diversity-and-support/domestic-violence/domestic-violence-and-the-workplace-employee
· Everyone’s Business: Developing workplace programs for the primary prevention of violence against women (2012) Developed by Women’s Health Victoria as part of a professional development package to inform the practice of primary prevention of violence against women using a business or workplace settings approach.
http://whv.org.au/publications-resources/publications-resources-by-topic/post/everyone-s-business-a-guide-to-developing-workplace-programs-for-the-primary-prevention-of-violence-against-women/
Flexibility
· The Power of Flexibility: A Key Enabler to Boost Gender Parity and Employee Engagement (2016) Bain and Company and Chief Executive Women surveyed 1,030 members of the Australian business, government and not-for-profit community about their use of flexible work arrangements and their perceptions of their organisations. http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/the-power-of-flexibility.aspx
· Trends in Workplace Flexibility (2015) This report summarizes the results of a May 2015 survey of WorldatWork members, “Trends in Workplace Flexibility,” to gather information about current trends in workplace flexibility practices. This survey is designed to measure flexibility options offered to employees and commonly used flexible work arrangements. It also analyzes how these programs are managed. 379 respondents in USA, Canada and Internationally. https://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimLink?id=79123
· Untapped opportunity: the role of women in unlocking Australia’s productivity potential (2013) EY consider the progress made in female workplace participation, including the productivity of women and men working flexibly vs full time. http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Untapped_opportunity_-_The_role_of_women_in_unlocking_Australias_productivity_potential/$FILE/EY-Untapped-opportunity-The-role-of-women-in-unlocking-Australias-productivity-potential.pdf
· Benchmarking Diversity and Inclusion Practices in Australia, by University of Sydney Business School’s Migrants@Work Research Group, with Macquarie University, the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) and Diversity Council Australia (DCA). Free to download here: https://www.dca.org.au/dca-research/benchmarking-diversity-and-inclusion-practices-in-australia.html
Inclusion and Cultural Change
· The Secret to Inclusion in Australian Workplaces: Psychological Safety. Read this report to learn just how inclusive leaders - those who enact the four behaviours of empowerment, accountability, courage, and humility (EACH) - achieve inclusiveresults. Based on a survey of over 250 Australian professionals. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/secret-inclusion-australian-workplaces-psychological-safety
· From diversity to inclusion: Move from compliance to diversity as a business strategy. A report and interactive findings tool from Deloitte. http://dupress.com/articles/hc-trends-2014-diversity-to-inclusion/#sup-0
· Kenji Yoshino and Christie Smith, Uncovering talent: A new model of inclusion, Deloitte, 2013, http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/about-deloitte/us-inclusion-uncovering-talent-paper.pdf
Participation of People with a Disability
· Australian Network on Disability online resources. Some fantastic free resources developed and collated to assist organisations to build disability confidence, particularly in relation to employing people with disability and welcoming customers with disability. http://www.and.org.au/pages/resources.html
Indigenous Participation
· This report by Reconciliation Australia uses a five dimensional framework of reconciliation to measure and analyse Australia’s progress over this time and set out a roadmap for Australia. The State of Reconciliation in Australia. https://www.reconciliation.org.au/the-state-of-reconciliation-in-australia-report/
· In 2014, the Queensland Government undertook the Queensland Australian South Sea Islander Community Survey. Survey results indicated a number of common themes regarding the importance of recognition of Australian South Sea Islanders as a unique cultural group. https://www.communities.qld.gov.au/multicultural/multicultural-communities/australian-south-sea-islanders/community-survey
· A number of interesting reports and data tables on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Queensland is available from the Office of the Statistician. http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/subjects/demography/atsi-people/index.php
CSRM Indigenous Employment guide https://www.csrm.uq.edu.au/docs/CSRM%20Report_FINAL%20TO%20PRINT_singles.pdf
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Peoples’ Participation
Diversity Beyond Gender (2017) Autopia's white paper in partnership with Yassmin Abdel-Magied examines the the business case for cultural diversity in the workplace. This well summarised 101 on cultural and linguistic diversity os available from Autopia online: http://corporate.autopia.com.au/diversity-beyond-gender/
A number of interesting reports and data bulletins about the multicultural diversity of Queensland population is available from the Department of Communities. https://www.communities.qld.gov.au/multicultural/multicultural-communities/multicultural-diversity-figures
Gender and Sexuality Diversity
· Re-thinking merit: why the meritocracy is failing Australian businesses (2015) A well-researched examination of ‘merit’ and its impact on women’s access to leadership roles by UN Women Australia and Autopia. https://unwomen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Re-thinking-Merit-Whitepaper.pdf
· Gender diversity why aren’t we getting it right? (2015) Australian study with 1,029 respondents who were asked to review hypothetical CVs: half received Susan’s, half received Simons. Particular focus on unconscious gender bias in recruitment. https://www.hays.com.au/cs/groups/hays_common/@au/@content/documents/digitalasset/hays_227986.pdf
· The Gender Diversity Kit (2013) The Chief Executive Women Gender Diversity Kit is designed to help CEOs and leaders determine if the business benefits of utilising female talent are worth the investment in time and energy, what the real issues are, what the priorites should be and how to secure early wins and deliver lasting results. http://cew.vserver.com.au/CEWtoolkit/
· ANZ Women’s Report, Barriers to Achieving Financial Gender Equity (2015) considers inequalities women face at different stages of their lives. http://www.women.anz.com/the-conversation/anz-womens-report
· Global Gender Diversity Report: Power Female Ambition, Develop Career Opportunities (2016) Survey of 11,500 from around the world. Comparing the responses of males and females in the areas of ambition, self-promotion, equal pay, career opportunities and gender diversity policies. https://www.hays.com.au/cs/groups/hays_common/@au/@content/documents/digitalasset/hays_325435.pdf
· Australia's hidden resource: the economic case for increasing female participation. Goldman Sachs JBWere, 2009. The authors of this report argue that an alternative source of highly educated labour is already at Australia's disposal and with the right set of policy options this pool of labour can be unlocked. Closing the gap between male and female employment rates would have important implications for the Australian economy. Search for the document at www.asx.com.au
· Mythbusters – Seven Myths About Women and Work, by the Financial services industry peak body, Finsia http://finsia.com/insights/the-diversity-dividend/significance-of-the-gender-divide-in-financial-services
· This 2013 briefing paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the mental health outcomes for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) people. Although most LGBTI Australians live healthy, happy lives, a disproportionate number experience worse health outcomes than their non-LGBTI peers in a range of areas, in particular mental health and suicidality. http://lgbtihealth.org.au/resources/lgbti-people-mental-health-suicide/
· The GenderBreadPerson Version 3.3. A beautiful infographic explaining modern conceptualisation of gender expression. http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2015/03/the-genderbread-person-v3/
· Some great resources from Charles Sturt University about supporting LGBTIQ and transitioning employees and students http://www.csu.edu.au/division/hr/equity-diversity-and-support/sexuality-sex-and-gender-identity
· Some great, free resources and publications from Pride in Diversity about sexuality in the workplace, intersex inclusion, and guides for ally networks and for managers. http://www.prideindiversity.com.au/resources/publications/
· Study on gender stereotyping and authority - The Enduring Reason You Believe All Nurses Are Women: https://qz.com/1037132/the-enduring-reason-you-believe-all-nurses-are-women/
·Watermark Board Diversity Index for 2017 - http://watermarksearch.com.au/2017/07/20/it-still-happens-white-men-dominate-asx-boards/
·A UN tool kit to assist companies narrow the gender gap in procurement -http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2017/the-power-of-procurement-how-to-source-from-women-owned-businesses-en.pdf?vs=237
·CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion Initiative- https://www.ceoaction.com/
Women in Male-Dominated Industries
· Women in male-dominated industries: A toolkit of strategies (2013) A resource for employees and employers with practical suggestions and examples of successful strategies in the areas of attraction, recruitment, retention and development of women in industries that have traditionally remained dominated by male leadership and employees. https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/projects/women-male-dominated-industries-toolkit-strategies
Women in Leadership
· The Leadership Shadow: It Starts With Us (2014) Chief Executive Women and the Male Champions of Change developed this resource for leaders of organisations (or any size) who want to better understand how to create an organisational culture that values, nurtures and attracts talented female executives. http://www.cew.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/MCC-LeadershipShadow_210314.pdf
· The aim of this paper, The dynamics of women’s network relationships: the good, bad and reality is to investigate how networking is connected to leadership aspirations and examine women’s understanding and practice of networking as a career developmental skill. http://dro.deakin.edu.au/view/DU:30056826
· Gender Quotas on Boards -- Is it Time for Australia to Lean in? This 2015 article examines whether Australia should introduce a gender quota on ASX 200 boards. Although existing institutional arrangements favour voluntary initiatives, Australia may be at a critical juncture where two factors may favour the introduction of a quota. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2686955
Gender Pay Gap
· The real gap: fixing the gender pay divide (2016) The Korn Ferry Institute draws on their data from 33 countries (excl. USA) and 8.7 million people to show that men and women doing the same job, in the same function in the same company get paid almost exactly the same amount (gap of 1.7%). This challenges the traditional notions around the gender pay gap and instead proposes the real issue is the lack of women in highly-paid and senior roles. A solutions-focused read. http://www.kornferry.com/institute/the-real-gap-fixing-the-gender-pay-divide
Generational Diversity
What are the top challenges facing age-diverse workforce and how do organisations unlock the rewards?
An “age-diverse” workplace isn’t one that just embraces older workers as our average age of retirement slowly rises. In fact, many workplaces already have five generations working side by side. The Australian government’s recently launched 2015 Intergenerational Report calls for employers to respond to an aging population by embracing an older workforce, or “grey army”. With Australia’s population predicted to reach nearly 40 million by 2055 , 25% of people will be over the age of 65 and likely to work longer and delay retirement.
http://www.johnstongoldsmith.com.au/think-papers/five-generation-juggle
Please send us email if any of the above links are not working, they may have changed.
Have you seen some great resources you think we should share? Let us know!
Diversity Case Studies
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Australia Post (AP) undertakes a compliance measure of an Annual EEO Report that details their commitment to diversity and inclusion and progress to date. AP has 33,031 employees, 134 nationalities and 65+ different languages. AP’s diversity profile is:
39.8% women
1.7% Indigenous Australians
7.3% people with disability
22.3% people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
Supporting their female talent, they have:
600 mymentor participants
35.5% women in management positions
33.2% women in executive positions
42.5% of all promotions are for female employees
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The Bank of Queensland (BOQ) announced in May 2014 that gender would be removed from resumes submitted to the Bank under a new measure aimed at boosting the number of executive women in the company’s ranks. Concerned that there is an “unconscious bias” working against women in the selection process, BOQ is removing all identifying factors on CVs to make sure they pick the best person for the job. The move came into effect immediately for all executive roles. All identifying factors – name, age, gender, address – are now removed from resumes submitted for senior roles and are therefore held back from panels as much as possible. BOQ’s General Manager has stated: “It is a brave approach, but you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different outcomes. Our objective is to get people making decisions on the basis of competency – not based on other factors – and we’re hoping we will get a stronger pool of females coming through”. The number of women in the company’s leadership team has increased from nine to 19 during recent years however, they are working towards an even gender balance
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Cement Australia’s ‘Enabling Female Leaders in the Cement Industry’ program is award-winning. Since its formation in 2003 Cement Australia has made significant progress in increasing the representation of women in its workforce, particularly in middle and upper management levels. An extensive range of initiatives from paid parental leave, flexible work arrangements, pay equity reviews, toddlers’ and teenagers’ rooms, training and employees assistance programs has shown tangible results. These include the doubling of women in roles in middle to upper management over four years.
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National Australia Bank (NAB) employees, upon return to work, receive up to 40 weeks of superannuation contributions on unpaid parental leave at a rate of 10%, in addition to the 12 weeks of paid leave and superannuation already provided to those on primary carer's leave by the bank. NAB has reported increases in its return-to-work rate of employees on parental leave from 65% in 2006 to 80% in 2013. In June 2014, National Australia Bank announced that its 28,000 Australian staff would also be able to accrue long service leave entitlements while on parental leave. The change, an Australian first, is part of the bank’s enterprise agreement negotiated with the Finance Sector Union that will operate until March 2016. Staff will be able to count up to 40 weeks of unpaid primary carers’ leave for accruing long service leave entitlements. Michaela Healey, NAB group executive for people, communications & governance told the Financial Review that “This decision will ensure that NAB parents, particularly mums, aren’t penalised in the workplace for having children, or taking time off to care for them.” A spokeswoman said the move came about after NAB conducted a gender pay equity audit, in conjunction with the FSU, to investigate possible causes or barriers to equal pay. NAB has also committed to introducing remuneration reviews for all employees returning from parental leave – with some 1200 NAB employees taking primary carers’ leave each year.
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From March 2014, Laing O’Rourke began providing greater flexibility for both primary and secondary carers with its new, industry-leading paid parental leave offering. Primary carers – after 12 months’ continuous employment – are now entitled to 26 weeks of paid leave, 18 of which are at full pay, and eight weeks at half pay. Primary carers will also have access to flexible working arrangements, as well as return-to-work coaching and keep-in-touch programs. Leave is paid according to the employee’s regular payment cycle, with the former return-to-work component now included upfront. Formerly, primary carers were given six weeks of paid leave, two of which were paid after returning to work. Employees also needed two years’ continuous service to be eligible. Under the new scheme, secondary carers – after 12 months’ ongoing employment – are now entitled to four weeks of parental leave, two weeks at full pay and two weeks unpaid.
If you have any case studies you feel would benefit DPA members, please get in touch with us via email.
Past DPA Event Recordings
Please note that not all of our previous online events have been recorded. Those which have been recorded are available here for your viewing pleasure!
Please note: these events have been recorded with the understanding they’d be shared with DPA members only in this member hub, thank you for respecting that agreement with our speakers by not sharing further.
18 July 2023 - Tracey Spicer AM on what DEI Leaders need to know about Artificial Intelligence
YouTube video: 18 July 2023 - Tracey Spicer AM on what DEI Leaders need to know about Artificial Intelligence
30 May 2023 - Body Size: the last frontier of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
YouTube video: 30 May 2023 - Body Size: the last frontier of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
30 March 2023 - Dr Juliet Bourke on interpersonal inclusion
The associated Harvard Business Review article on Juliet’s research is available here.
YouTube video: 30 March 2023 - Dr Juliet Bourke on interpersonal inclusion
6 December 2022 - Authentic Engagement with First Nations peoples and communities
11 August 2022 - In conversation with Australian Paralympic Gold Medallist, Katie Kelly OAM
29 April 2022 - Contemporary D&I Strategies Masterclass with Dr Katie Spearritt & Josh Griffin
YouTube video: 29 April 2022 - Contemporary D&I Strategies Masterclass with Dr Katie Spearritt & Josh Griffin
Supporting resources mentioned in this event:
- SBS’s D&I Strategy (& 8 others from Australian organisations) is linked from our blog here.
- the Catalyst research on inclusion that Katie refers to is entitled “Getting Real about Inclusive Leadership”, available here.
- further information about from Culture Amp about paying Employee Resource Group leaders can be found here.
30 November 2021 - In Conversation with Elizabeth Broderick AO
YouTube video: 30 November 2021 - In Conversation with Elizabeth Broderick AO
31 August 2021 - How organisations can support mental health in the workplace with Nic Kelly from Anglo American and Naomi Armitage from Humanology
YouTube Video: 31 August 2021 - How organisations can support mental health in the workplace with Nic Kelly from Anglo American and Naomi Armitage from Humanology
20 May 2021 - Rainbow Families: an inclusive approach to parenting with Kristy McFarlane and Prue Gilbert from Grace Papers.
YouTube video: 20 May 2021 - Rainbow Families: an inclusive approach to parenting with Kristy McFarlane and Prue Gilbert from Grace Papers.
25 February 2021 - Women in STEM: Inspiring the Next Generation event with Dr Bronwyn Evans, Ruth Harrison, Angela Bee Chan, Taylah Griffin and Professor Madhu Bhaskaran
YouTube video: 25 February 2021 - Women in STEM: Inspiring the Next Generation event with Dr Bronwyn Evans, Ruth Harrison, Angela Bee Chan, Taylah Griffin and Professor Madhu Bhaskaran
21 October 2020 - Achieving Gender Equality Through Procurement Panel Discussion with Femeconomy Directors Jade Collins and Alanna Bastin-Byrne and Dave Andrews of Microsoft
YouTube video:
21 October 2020 - Achieving Gender Equality Through Procurement Panel Discussion with Femeconomy Directors Jade Collins and Alanna Bastin-Byrne and Dave Andrews of Microsoft
23 September 2020 - The Future of Diversity and Inclusion in a post-Covid Australia with Julie McKay
YouTube video: 23 September 2020 - The Future of Diversity and Inclusion in a post-Covid Australia with Julie McKay
28 July 2020 - Using sensemaking to help with identifying, analysing, and developing effective strategies for inclusion with Dr Carolina Bouten-Pinto
YouTube video: 28 July 2020 - Using sensemaking to help with identifying, analysing, and developing effective strategies for inclusion with Dr Carolina Bouten-Pinto
Members Resource Hub contains three sections, scroll up to find each section, or use the links below to be taken straight to the section you need today.