As Australia’s workforce grows more diverse, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are more important than ever. Findings from the 2023-2024 Inclusion@Work Index reveal 30% of Australian workers have experienced discrimination and/or harassment at work. Yet, resistance to DEI efforts among Australian workers has risen from 3% to 7% over the past five years. This trend mirrors broader socio-political shifts, including the downsizing or dismantling of DEI teams by some multinational organisations and the election of Donald Trump in the United States—a moment seen by some as emboldening resistance to DEI globally. Against this backdrop, it’s vital to revisit the benefits of DEI initiatives and explore how they can be refined to ensure meaningful and lasting impact.

The Value of DEI Initiatives: Diverse minds and perspectives drive innovation and introduce approaches that benefit workplaces and society. Prioritising inclusivity enhances employee retention, customer satisfaction, and organisational culture (AHRI, 2023; Diversity Council Australia, 2023). Additionally, diversity in leadership enables businesses to better understand and address the needs of Australia’s increasingly diverse population. While the benefits of DEI are clear, implementing initiatives comes with challenges that require careful navigation.

Navigating DEI Challenges: Reluctance to engage with DEI often stems from concerns about mistakes. This hesitation highlights the need for thoughtful planning and involvement of diverse experts who can anticipate and address challenges, including perceptions of opportunism (Gray et al., 2024) and ‘woke washing’ (Vredenburg et al., 2020). Failing to align DEI rhetoric with meaningful action exposes businesses to criticism and risks eroding trust (Gray et al., 2024; Vredenburg et al., 2020).

Companies should therefore examine their motivations, purpose, and level of commitment to DEI initiatives. Genuine efforts require sustained investments of time, energy, and resources. Equally important, a strong, diverse leadership team is essential to guide initiatives with insight and authenticity, ensuring lasting impact.

Developing Authentic DEI Practices: The Monash Marketing Dialogue, hosted by Monash Business School, brought together a panel of inclusivity advocates to discuss ways businesses could address challenges. Their thoughts, and those of scholars, underscore the importance of businesses engaging with DEI in meaningful, longer-term ways.

Aligning DEI with organisational values: DEI initiatives need to go beyond surface-level commitments and align with a company’s core values, purpose, and identity. Achieving such alignment requires taking deliberate steps to embed inclusivity into business processes—from recruitment and leadership development to product design and marketing. When backed by authentic action, these efforts help ensure that inclusivity becomes part of the organisation’s DNA, building trust among employees and customers alike.

Building Meaningful Community Relationships: Businesses need to meaningfully engage with the communities they seek to represent or amplify. This requires active listening, collaboration, and a commitment to genuine representation across campaigns, partnerships, and brand touchpoints.

Recognising intersectionality: Genuine diversity efforts require acknowledging that individuals are not defined by a single characteristic. Intersectionality—the interplay between attributes like ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, and more—provides critical insights for businesses aiming to effectively represent and support diverse groups (Burgess et al., 2020; Lamberton et al., 2024). Overlooking these intersections can lead to oversimplified portrayals and missed opportunities for meaningful impact.

Empowering involvement: Actively involving diverse voices in decision-making processes—such as product development or marketing campaigns—yields valuable insights that enhance inclusivity. Engaging people with lived experience of hidden disabilities, for example, can reveal unmet needs, building stronger connections with these audiences and fostering innovation.

Avoiding narrow perspectives: A key takeaway from the recent Monash Marketing Dialogue was the danger of relying on limited perspectives when making decisions. While involving diverse voices is essential, it’s equally important to embrace the concept of ‘one voice among many.’ This approach recognises the diversity within groups, ensuring businesses avoid generalisations and remain open to broader insights and evidence

Getting the basics right: In a multicultural society like Australia, understanding diverse consumer segments is a business imperative. Profiling these segments helps businesses shape offerings that resonate. Yet, when marketing to diverse communities, it’s easy to overlook our own biases. Staying open, mindful, and willing to challenge assumptions is crucial—along with investing in innovative ways to better understand and connect with these audiences.

Conclusion: In a rapidly diversifying society, scaling back DEI initiatives risks perpetuating discrimination, exclusion, and misunderstanding. Australian culture values ‘a fair go for all,’ making authentic engagement and deliberate strategies to embed DEI into business practices not just a necessity but a point of pride. By investing in meaningful DEI efforts, organisations can drive innovation, foster inclusivity, and contribute to a fairer and more equitable society.

Authors:

• Fiona Newton: A/Professor, Department of Marketing, Monash Business School, Monash University.
• Ayan Dasvarma: School and Institute Manager, Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI)
• Monash University; Chair, Anit-Racism Project Group, Monash University; Monash Diverse Genders, Sexes and Sexualities (DGSS) Advisory Group Member, Monash University.
• Sandi Grace: CEO and founder of Grace Professional Services, a Victorian based NDIS Support Coordination Service
• Tharani Jegatheeswaran: Partner – Deloitte Australia
• John Rizzo: Founder Joyous Work; Chair, Member, Monash Marketing Department Industry Advisory Board.
• Jeff Wang: A/Professor, Department of Marketing, Monash Business School, Monash University.

REFERENCES

Australian Human Resources Institute (2023). Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Australian Workplaces. https://www.ahri.com.au/wp-content/uploads/DEI-Report-2023.pdf

Burgess, A. J., Wilkie, D. C. H., & Dolan, R. (2020). Towards successful diversity initiatives: The importance of building audience connectedness. Journal of Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2020.1844278

Burgess, A., Wilkie, D.C.H. and Dolan, R. (2023), “Brand approaches to diversity: a typology and research agenda”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 57 No. 1, pp. 60-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-09-2021-0696

Diversity Council Australia (2023). Inclusion@Work Index 2023-2024

https://www.dca.org.au/research/inclusion-at-work-index-2023-2024

Gray, H., Dolan, R., Wilkie, D.C.H., Conduit, J. and Burgess, A. (2024), “Social purpose branding approaches: a typology of how brands engage with a social purpose”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 5, pp. 1207-1240. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-08-2022-0588

Institute of Community Directors Australia (2023). Celebrating Inclusion is now more important than ever. https://www.communitydirectors.com.au/articles/celebrating-inclusion-is-now-more-important-than-ever

Wilkie, D. C. H., Burgess, A. J., Mirzaei, A., & Dolan, R. M. (2023). Inclusivity in Advertising: A Typology Framework for Understanding Consumer Reactions. Journal of Advertising, 52(5), 721–738. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2023.2255252