In 2021, we released our first highly cited and groundbreaking Women of Colour in the Workplace Report. This quantitative survey, and subsequent academic publication, created a foundation to understand the experiences of Women of Colour in Australian workplaces that was evident from our lived and living experiences, but for which no data existed. This report builds on this foundation of evidence, to show how the experiences of Women of Colour are changing over time and to provide community-led solutions to the challenges that persist.

Women of Colour are a highly educated and engaged demographic. In the ‘war for talent’ organisations that are able to create safe and inclusive cultures where Women of Colour are seen, valued, heard and promoted, will win.

Despite better awareness of legal responsibilities of organisations and institutions, such as Anti-Discrimination and Respect@Work laws, and increasing onus on organisations to provide psychosocial safety at work, our findings show that discrimination against Women of Colour is escalating in organisations. In this report, we point to the limitations of legal protections when Women of Colour are dismissed or heavily penalised for reporting their experiences.

In our deep dive into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies and initiatives, we find that Women of Colour experience these as largely tokenistic, demonstrating that they are not tailored to be effective for the most marginalised people within organisations. Compounding this, our sharp focus on gender parity and representation, without an intersectional lens, may be leading to more harm. Therefore, this report calls for more intersectional approaches to designing, implementing and measuring initiatives designed to include or support diverse employees and stakeholders.

Our recommendations provide tangible and actionable insights for organisations, HR leaders,  government and policy bodies. These recommendations are from Women of Colour directly and highlight that traditional White models of leadership, management and organisational structures are outdated and need to be rethought and redesigned to be ‘fit for purpose’ for our diverse society.