Madeline Hislop, December 2, 2022

Intentional support can be transformative. We learn more about a new sponsorship program by the majority First Nations-owned and operated Cultivate Indigenous, thanks to our partnership with Cultivate.

Time and again, research tells us that the more diverse our management and leadership teams are, the better our organisations function.

Diversity leads to richer ideas, a more inclusive work culture and better business decisions and outcomes. In fact, McKinsey found in 2020 that the relationship between diversity on executive teams and the likelihood of financial outperformance had strengthened over time.

Despite this, many organisations continue to fall behind the eight ball on diversity, with the statistics especially dismal for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who remain vastly underrepresented – or completely excluded – from leadership in the Australian workforce.

According to the Minderoo Foundation’s Indigenous Employment Index, Indigenous employees are almost entirely absent from senior management and executive leadership positions. Among the 31 employers who reported the relevant data, Indigenous representation at senior leadership levels was just 0.7 per cent.