Responding to racism
Originally launched in 2014, the Australia Human Rights Commission released an updated version of this tool in 2022. The content, form and function of the tool were updated with the aim of increasing usability and user engagement, and to provide organisations with current information and resources to engage with conversations on cultural diversity and anti-racism. The new tool was informed by research and consultations, and guided by the expertise of an Expert Advisory Group. See information about the Tool Expert Advisory Group.
The tool itself is designed to be completed by staff members with oversight and/or awareness of organisational planning, policies, recruitment and retention processes such as a senior manager, human resources manager or diversity officer. However, we recommend that these users create a multi-level team to support the completion of the tool, ensuring that diverse perspectives, in particular those of First Nations people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, are incorporated.
If you have any questions about the tool or would like to provide feedback, reach out to the campaign team here.
The assessment comprises of 52 questions and will take approximately 40 minutes to complete. You can save your progress and resume it at any time.
Good Practice Areas
Good practice area #1
Acknowledging the unique position of First Nations peoples and the contributions they bring to a workplace
case studies
ABC: Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan
The ABC’s Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) champions initiatives that recognise and embrace Australia’s Indigenous history and cultures. This includes the ABC’s commitment to Indigenous content across its media platforms, strengthening employment and business opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and building closer relationships with Indigenous communities. The Elevate RAP also includes a new commitment to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, voices and names within the ABC’s programs, so that this may become a part of the vocabulary of the nation. The Plan has been operational since July 2019. The ABC is one of only... Read the full case study >>
ABC: Bonner Committee
The Bonner Committee was first established in 2002. Its name is a mark of respect for the late Neville Bonner AO, who was Australia’s first Aboriginal Senator and the ABC’s only Aboriginal Board Director to date.
The Committee is the ABC’s primary advisory and representative body on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, content, and communities, with a specific responsibility for monitoring progress against the ABC’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Its membership is a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff, from content and administrative support, located in all parts of Australia. In choosing members, the Bonner Committee seeks expressions of interest from staff who... Read the full case study >>
City of Stirling - Reconciliation Action Plan
The City of Stirling adopted its first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2010 and began implementing its third RAP in 2021. The plan is comprised of transparent and accountable deliverables to recognise the rich history and culture of First Nations People and improve... Read the full case study >>
Western Australia Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage - Centring First Nations expertise
The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (the Department) advocates for the participation of Aboriginal people in public employment—in a wide range of roles, and at all levels. The unique skills and knowledge of Aboriginal people add significant value to... Read the full case study >>
Good practice area #2
Organisational learning: Understanding the need
case studies
Women of Colour Australia: Workplace Survey
The first step is understanding how racism plays out in the workplace
Conversations about the pay gap for women and gender equality in the workplace are familiar to all Australians. Equally well documented is the toll that the pandemic has had (and is still having) on women’s careers around the country. However, this rhetoric has always been centred around white women. Terms such as intersectionality... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #3
Leadership and commitment
case studies
Waverley Council: Multicultural Advisory Council
Founded in 1859, Waverley Council established a strong social justice agenda early on, pursuing strategies in response to concerns such as gentrification, loss of affordable housing, access to quality affordable care, support for vulnerable people and a culturally diverse, cohesive community. The Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) requires Council to represent the diverse needs of the local community, address the health and wellbeing needs of community members... Read the full case study >>
University of Queensland: Cultural Inclusion Council
Aims of the Cultural Inclusion Council
The UQ Cultural Inclusion Council (CIC, The Council) provides a consultative mechanism for developing and implementing inclusion initiatives focused on culturally and linguistically diverse staff across the University of Queensland (UQ).
We aim to... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #4
Strategy
case studies
Women of Colour Australia: Strategic Plan
Developing strategies to promote cultural diversity and anti-racism
WoCA’s focus is to... Read the full case study >>
ACON: Multicultural Engagement Plan
ACON’s Multicultural Engagement Pan was developed to provide a three-year framework from 2021-2024 to guide the way the organisation engages with and empowers LGBTQ community members and staff from culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse, migrant, and refugee backgrounds, and LGBTQ people of colour.
The Plan was led and developed... Read the full case study >>
UNSW: Anti-Racism Policy
UNSW’s Anti-Racism Policy was first written in 1996 and primarily served to inform the university community of the institution’s obligations under anti-discrimination legislation.
In 2020, UNSW’s Division of Equity Diversity and Inclusion hosted a broad consultation... Read the full case study >>
ABC: Diversity & Inclusion Plan
The ABC has established a governance structure to guide and track its approach and ensure top-down accountability for diversity and inclusion outcomes across the Corporation. Under this structure, the ABC’s Managing Director and Leadership Team hold overall responsibility for the Diversity and Inclusion program, with appropriate targets and strategies included in their... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #5
Equitable hiring: Deploying an equity framework to find and select the best staff
case studies
DCA: Diversity Statement
As an organisation deeply committed to diversity and inclusion, we wanted to attract diverse applicants to DCA who share our values. To do this, DCA includes a statement in all our external job advertisements that specifically encourages people with lived experience of diversity to apply for roles within our organisation and emphasises our organisational commitment to inclusion and flexibility:
DCA is an inclusive employer. We encourage flexible working... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #6
Equitable retention: Deploying an equity framework to keep the best staff
case studies
EY - Culturally Diverse Mentoring Program
Background
In EY Oceania, our people have 127 unique cultural backgrounds and speak 77 languages. While we are a very culturally diverse group, culturally diverse representation decreases in senior roles. We also know that the experience of those with a culturally diverse background is not the same as their... Read the full case study >>
Western Australia Department of Transport - Championing diverse recruitment and participation
Our commitment
DoT’s purpose is Empowering a Thriving Community, and we are committed to supporting and encouraging cultural diversity in the workplace. At DoT, we enable the development and delivery of a successful and sustainable employment pathway, which follows a... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #7
Developing a strong culture
case studies
SSI Group: Cultural and Wellbeing Leave
In May 2021, Settlement Services International (SSI) introduced three (3) days of paid Cultural and Wellbeing Leave for all staff and five (5) days for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues.
Interestingly, the idea was borne out of discussions in line with our reconciliation commitment to provide cultural support for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues beyond the minimum standard of 10 days’ unpaid ceremonial leave. This recognises it is important to provide space and time for people to honour... Read the full case study >>
SSI: Choosing a training provider for your cultural diversity and inclusion strategy
The evidence is out that to reap the full benefits that a diverse workforce presents, employers have to work on building inclusion. A key activity in any diversity and inclusion strategy is training. But how do you pick a quality provider?
The following tool is designed to guide you through a conversation with a prospective cultural diversity training provider with key questions and responses you would... Read the full case study >>
Main Roads Western Australia - Internal Communications
The Main Roads Internal Communications team manage corporate messaging on our intranet to ensure staff are engaged and informed about the agency’s activities and... Read the full case study >>
City of Palmerston - Celebrating diversity
While inclusion, diversity and accessibility are often referred to in the context of people with lived experience of disability, we recognise that these principles are equally as important for groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds. We are committed to ensuring... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #8
Embedding anti-racism in everyday practice
case studies
University of Sydney: Mosaic staff network
Creation
A group of empowered colleagues at the University of Sydney created the Mosaic network with the aim to challenge the status quo about experiences, support and progression of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) colleagues. Mosaic is a unique combination of a grassroots initiative with executive support.
The trigger was the Vice Chancellor’s Sponsorship Program at the University of Sydney, launched in 2016. The program was a University-wide targeted effort to support CALD women with potential to move into senior leadership roles. This brought together staff from across the university who may not have otherwise had the opportunity... Read the full case study >>
UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion: Me and White Supremacy Reading Group
What was it?
Responding to concerns raised regarding systemic racism within the university, as well as the Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion’s (CSJI) role in contributing to anti-racism discourse in the broader community, the Social Impact Team (SIT) at the Centre, a team of approximately 9 members, decided we wanted to work on being actively anti-racist. The program was first conceptualised as an entry into better understanding what leads to racism, what it looks like and how to be anti-racist... Read the full case study >>
Fremantle Football Club - Supporting anti-racist action
What began as a discrete call out from the Fremantle Football Club to an individual who did not reflect the values or ideals of the Club, became a very powerful message played out nationally.
In July 2020, the Fremantle Dockers along with a number of other Clubs advised they would ‘take a knee’ prior to the game... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #9
How the organisation responds to incidents of racism
case studies
SBS: Participatory design in developing employee complaints management process
SBS is committed to never standing still in pursuit of greater inclusion – through its people and the way it operates, through the programming it produces, and as a positive force for change in the media sector. In 2021, SBS engaged an external inclusive design consulting firm to work with employees in reviewing and redesigning some key internal processes including recruitment, internal complaints management and content workflows. The objective was to ensure any barriers... Read the full case study >>
Good Practice Area #10
Evaluation and monitoring: Ensuring that your strategies work
case studies
Anonymous case study - External audit
Our organisation has historically had a fairly white workforce, consisting predominantly of volunteers. In recent years, we have aimed to shift this, with a focus on showcasing underrepresented artists and creators through our work. Despite our programming and promotion of the work of these underrepresented artists and communities, we have faced challenges in building a more representative volunteer base... Read the full case study >>
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We are committed to constantly improving this tool and welcome your suggestions and feedback.
Share your feedback
We want to ensure that the Workplace Cultural Diversity Tool is providing our users with an accessible user experience.
Please share any feedback you have on the tool and related resources with the team.
Submit good practice examples
Does your workplace have good practice examples of your work on cultural diversity and anti-racism that you would like to share?
Many employers want to make their workplace as culturally safe and inclusive as possible, however putting these goals into practice can be challenging. By sharing your workplaces’ effective practices, or learnings on cultural diversity and anti-racism, you can support others in starting this process.
Your good practice case study could be featured in the tool (and can be featured anonymously).