The race discrimination commissioner says cultural diversity needs to be valued ‘in the corridors of power’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

None of Australia’s university chancellors or ASX 200 chief executives are Indigenous, with those positions dominated by people with Anglo-Celtic backgrounds, according to a landmark report on cultural diversity in leadership.

Authored by the race discrimination commissioner, Dr Tim Soutphommasane, in partnership with the University of Sydney Business School, Westpac, PwC and Telstra, the report also recommends ways of increasing diversity in leadership, including using diversity targets and improved training and professional development.

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“You can’t assume you’re getting cultural diversity right just becaue you have a potluck lunch every Harmony Day,” Soutphommasane told Guardian Australia.

“It’s one thing to value cultural diversity in the lobby, or the lunchroom, or at a food festival but you also need to value it in the corridors of power.”

Researchers identified the cultural background of senior leaders within the public service, the federal parliament, the ASX 200 and universities, and then categorised them as Indigenous, Anglo-Celtic (those of British or Irish background), European (non Anglo-Celtic) or non-European.

“We found a bleak story for multicultural Australia,” wrote the authors of the report, being launched by the Human Rights Commission on Friday.

Among Australia’s 40 university vice-chancellors, 85% had an Anglo-Celtic background and 15% had a European background. Of 124 heads of federal and state departments, only two had a non-European background and only one was Indigenous.

Of the 42 members of the federal ministry, which was analysed before the election and the new cabinet was announced, 86% had an Anglo-Celtic background, 12% had a European background and none were non-European. Only one ministry member had an Indigenous background.

In the parliament, 79% of the 226 members of the House of Representatives and the Senate had an Anglo-Celtic background. Those who had an Indigenous background comprised less than 2%.

Earlier this month, Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney became the first Indigenous woman elected to the lower house of federal parliament.

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Soutphommasane said: “We still have a cultural and ethnic default in leadership in Australia and it’s Anglo-Celtic.

“If you were to look at the general population, I’d say about 20% would have a European background and more than 10% a non-European background but we don’t see anything close to those numbers represented in senior leadership.

“That is hard to square because when you look at our highest-performing students in school or leading graduates from university, you see an overrepresentation of cultural diversity but we don’t see that talent eventually coming through to leadership.”

The report says that the Racial Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnicity or national origin, is not enough to promote more diversity in leadership.

The authors suggest organisations should identify staff from culturally diverse backgrounds with leadership potential and mentor them, implement diversity targets as part of organisational strategy and collect data on the cultural diversity of their workplace in order to improve.

“Our ideas about who is most meritorious can be determined by highly subjective criteria, often without us realising,” the report said.

“Our judgments about leadership may be particularly susceptible to bias. When it concerns advancement within professional life, prejudice can trump diversity. This can be the case even when organisations have fully accepted the idea of inclusion with all the right intentions.”

When those from non-European backgrounds did enter leadership, they “may face disadvantages because they are not perceived as legitimate and because power inequities in organisations privilege ‘whiteness’,” the report said.

But the authors cite a range of evidence that suggests more diverse workplaces experience stronger financial performance and better decision making. One US study found up to 20% of productivity growth between 1960 and 2008 could be attributed to a reduction in gender and racial discrimination.

Soutphommasane will announce on Friday that the commission will establish a leadership council on cultural diversity tasked with advocating for more diversity in leadership.