Exclusion in Australian workplaces is on the rise
Diversity Council Australia (DCA) have released the Inclusion@Work Index Report for 2023-2024. Conducted every two years, the Inclusion@Work Index relies on a survey of a representative sample of Australian workers and measures the nature and extent of inclusion and exclusion experienced by people belonging to marginalised groups in the workplace. As such, the Index is also an excellent measure of safety and respect in the nation’s workforce.
This year, the results are discouraging, and should ring an alarm to workers and organisations across the nation that passivity and inaction are simply unacceptable in the pursuit of safe, respectful, diverse and inclusive workplaces.
Exclusion is on the rise
30% of respondents reported experiencing discrimination and/or harassment at work. Already alarmingly high, the rates are worse when considering the experiences of particular marginalised groups:
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers experienced the highest rates of discrimination and/or harassment at 59%, as opposed to 22% of non-Indigenous workers. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers also reported lower rates of respect in their teams (72% as opposed to 81% of non-Indigenous respondents), less valuing of difference in their teams (69% as opposed to 77%) and less acceptance from coworkers (75% as opposed to 87%).
42% of workers with a disability and 41% of workers with a non-Christian religious affiliation experienced discrimination and/or harassment.
Further, 39% of LGBTIQ+ workers experienced discrimination and/or harassment, compared to 24% of non-LGBTIQ+ workers.
This correlates with a general rise in workers reporting exclusionary teams and workplace cultures. This year, 19% of respondents felt that the teams they worked with were not inclusive, up from 12% in 2021 and 11% in 2019. Only about half (52%) of respondents reported that the organisational culture where they worked was inclusive. Alongside this is a small but alarming rise in opposition to diversity and inclusion efforts in the workplace – from 3% to 7%.
Everyday exclusion
The Champions of Change Coalition’s excellent work demonstrates that everyday sexism is a significant issue in Australian workplaces, causing women to feel uncomfortable and unwelcome, and promoting a culture in which discrimination and harm is downplayed or accepted. It follows logic that frequent and casual discriminatory behaviours are experienced in the workplace by other marginalised groups in similar ways. DCA has found that this ‘everyday exclusion’, as they call it, has increased in Australian workplaces since the pandemic. In particular, DCA found a rise in the following exclusionary behaviours:
Workers being ignored or treated as if they don’t exist (33% in 2024, 24% in 2019)
Assumptions made about workers’ abilities based on particular characteristics (39% in 2024, 32% in 2019)
People being left out of work social gatherings (28% in 2024, 24% in 2019)
These are behaviours that leaders and managers may not necessarily catch unless they are speaking and listening to workers closely and often.
The role of leadership
We know that the standard for respect, inclusion, diversity and safety comes from organisational leadership. From the executive team to people leaders, whether they are conscious of it or not, leaders embody the values, practices and priorities that will set the tone for all other workers. The Index is a clear demonstration of this: the lacklustre state of diversity and inclusion in Australian workplaces is consistent with reports of only average commitment to cultural improvement on the part of leaders. For the most part, actively inclusive managers seem to be in the minority. Workers are more likely to report that their managers are only ‘somewhat inclusive’ (43%) than wholly inclusive (31%). 27% of respondents judged their managers to not be inclusive at all, a jump from 2021, when 18% of respondents said the same.
As we said, exclusionary behaviours, from the everyday to the more severe, thrive when leaders do not notice or, worse, tolerate them. This year’s Inclusion@Work Index shows that the best placed people to articulate their experiences of inclusion or exclusion in the workplace are workers themselves: they are an organisation’s best, and most important, asset, in this and so many other areas.
Listen to your workers
The Index shows a problem that is widespread, and gives us insight into its broad nature. If leaders want to make a difference, however, they are going to need to understand their own workplaces. Dedicated consultation with workers, be it one-on-one or in small, specialised listening sessions, is crucial. By taking pointed and public action to consult with workers, leaders are demonstrating that they take inclusion seriously. However, consultation should not be an exercise in looking good: leaders should make sure workers are heard and know their insights will inform real change. In particular, organisations should seek insights from workers who belong to marginalised groups, and should give particular consideration to the ways in which the intersections in workers’ identities may affect their experiences of inclusion in the workplace.
While this year’s Index shows that opposition to D&I in the workplace has grown, it is notable that this opposition is still very much in the minority. 74% of workers either support or strongly support actions to make their workplaces diverse and inclusive. And if this or the wealth of evidence indicating the benefits of diversity and inclusion to organisational performance is not enough, the Index also shows that workers are happier with proactive organisations. People in organisations that take active measures to improve D&I were more likely to feel positively about their workplaces with regards to overall satisfaction, job security, mental health and equality of opportunities than those working for ‘inactive’ organisations. Consultation with workers is the most effective way forward for workplaces looking to foster a culture of inclusion.
Find out how listening sessions can work at your organisation - here.