Responding to racism
Once you have completed the assessment, you will be able to see your results across all of the good practice areas, as well as an overall score. Once you have completed the assessment more than once, you will be able to see your progress in these good practice areas over time.
Your results will be saved in your account for you to access when logged in. You will also be able to download and print a pdf of your results for your own records.
To get the most out of the Tool, keep the following points in mind:
- You can complete the tool over more than one session. Your answers will automatically save if you log out.
- The Commission strongly recommends that you complete the tool with a multi-level group of employees from different cultural backgrounds and different areas of your organisation. This will ensure that your answers incorporate a range of expertise and perspectives.
- Once you have completed the assessment, the tool will recommend resources from the resource library based on your results. These should form part of your ongoing engagement but are not intended to be an exhaustive list. You may to spend some time independently navigating the resource library to find information and resources that might support your organisation as it works to strengthen its approach to cultural diversity and anti-racism.
Good practice examples
Throughout the tool you will also find case studies that represent good practice in terms of working towards a culturally diverse, inclusive and anti-racist workplace. These are real examples that have been provided by workplaces of different sizes and within different sectors.. The Commission is always looking for more examples to share with and inspire our supporters. If you would like to submit a case study for review, you can do so by contacting the campaign team here.
Privacy and Confidentiality
The Workplace Cultural Diversity Tool is designed for internal use by organisations to measure their progress towards good practice in anti-racism and cultural diversity. The Australian Human Rights Commission is committed to ensuring the security and confidentiality of this resource. Although a copy of the data you submit to the tool will be retained by the Commission’s server, this information will not be considered or used by the Commission. Access to the tool is via a secure login and all data transmission will be encrypted. However, the information submitted by you to register to use the tool is collected and used by the Commission to allow you to re-use the tool, to enable the Commission to assist you with any problems encountered in using the tool, to inform the Commission on the use of the tool and the sectors in which it is used, and to adjust the tool and the Commission’s website. The data collected from the registration process may also be used in analyses conducted by the Commission and, in an aggregated and de-identified format, to market the tool. The Australian Human Rights Commission is required to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). For more information on the Commission’s privacy policy go to www.humanrights.gov.au/privacy.
Key terms
Bystander anti-racism is action taken by witnesses in response to incidents of interpersonal racism.
According to Diversity Council Australia:
“Cultural diversity means having a mix of people from different cultural backgrounds – it can include differences in cultural/ethnic identity (how we identify ourselves and how others identify us), language, country of birth, religion, heritage/ancestry, national origin, and/or race.” 1
It may include additional work demands, expectations to educate others, or expectations to speak on behalf of other Indigenous people.
Equity involves the recognition of unique needs and strengths of each individual and the provision of resources to ensure equality of opportunity. It can also be understood as how to make things fair and just. A workplace equity framework enables organisations to approach attraction, recruitment and retention in a way that holistically recognises each (potential) employee and appreciates merit beyond professional experience. An equity framework supports organisations to identify the barriers that might prevent equitable employment and recognise cultural knowledge and life experience(s) as part of an employee or potential employee’s contribution to a workplace. It allows organisations to recognise how an individual’s privilege impacts their access to opportunities and to use this knowledge to ensure that the best person (not necessarily the most obvious person) is selected for a particular role.
Psychosocial hazards are factors in the design or management of work that increase the risk of work-related stress and can lead to psychological or physical harm.
Employees are likely to be exposed to a combination of psychosocial hazards. Some hazards might always be present at work, while others only occasionally. There is a greater risk of work-related stress when psychosocial hazards combine and act together, so employers should not consider hazards in isolation. 4
Racial literacy refers to the ability to recognise and understand how race and racism inform society.
Structural barriers are obstacles that impact specific people or groups of people and reinforce inequality of outcome. They may come in the form of policies, practices, ideologies or patterns of behaviour that systematically disadvantage marginalised groups.
A note on terminology:
Use of the terms ‘cultural diversity’ and ‘culturally diverse’
There are many ways to refer to the different cultural and racial identities that make up Australian society. The Australian Human Rights Commission acknowledges there are different perspectives on how and when these terms should be used, and that individuals are entitled to choose how they themselves are identified. Other terms are important and relevant in a variety of contexts, and where possible, it is best to use the terminology preferred by the staff who represent those communities within your workplace. We believe that ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’ encourages employers to think about the myriad of cultures that make our society so rich and diverse. However, we acknowledge that this terminology is limited and can have a flattening effect, reducing diverse lived experiences under a single term.
In using the term ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’, we do not intend to reduce or typecast the thousands of cultural, religious, language and ethnic identities that exist. We want to recognise and celebrate these differences, and encourage workplaces to do the same.
Use of the term ‘First Nations’, and ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples occupy a unique position as the First Nations peoples of Australia. Their relationship to Australia is different from that of settlers from culturally and linguistically diverse, or multicultural, backgrounds. We acknowledge that the use of the term ‘First Nations’ is not without contention. As noted by Jumbunna Institute and Diversity Council Australia in their 2020 report, Gari Yala, many Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people prefer to use the terms ‘Indigenous’, ‘Aboriginal’ and/or ‘Torres Strait Islander’. 5
We also recognise that these general terms do not accurately reflect the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who represent hundreds of nations, languages, and clan groups with distinct cultural identities. Many Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people prefer to be known by their specific group or clan names, and it is always best to ask a person how they should be referred to. We use the term ‘First Nations’ here to refer to the traditional custodians of country across Australia, for the sake of consistency and brevity, and apologise for any offense this may cause. It has not been our intention to oversimplify the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the many cultural identities they represent.
- Jane O’Leary and Dimitria Groutsis, ‘Cultural Diversity Definition’, Diversity Council Australia (Web Page, 26 June 2020): https://www.dca.org.au/topics/culture-faith/key-definitions-and-state-play
- Diversity Council Australia and Jumbunna Institute, Gari Yala (Speak the Truth): Centring the Work Experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians (Report, Diversity Council Australian and Jumbunna Institute, 2020) https://www.dca.org.au/sites/default/files/dca_synopsisreport_web_0.pdf
- Diversity Council Australia and Jumbunna Institute, Gari Yala (Speak the Truth): Centring the Work Experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians (Report, Diversity Council Australian and Jumbunna Institute, 2020) 13 https://www.dca.org.au/sites/default/files/dca_synopsisreport_web_0.pdf
- 'Worksafe Victoria', Psychosocial Hazards Contributing to Work-related Stress, 11 October 2021 https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/psychosocial-hazards-contributing-work-related-stress
- Gari Yala (Speak the Truth): Centring the Work Experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians (Report, Diversity Council Australian and Jumbunna Institute, 2020) 13 < https://www.dca.org.au/sites/default/files/dca_synopsisreport_web_0.pdf>.