Growing Workplace Diversity in the Food and Fibre Industry

Summary

The “Growing Workplace Diversity in the Food and Fibre Industry” project will develop a comprehensive Inclusivity plan to implement and promote strategic practices to improve the diversity and inclusion of underrepresented cohorts in agriculture nationwide. Over four stages, the project will develop and trial strategies to advance those from culturally & linguistically diverse communities, First Nations people, who are neurodiverse, have a disability and will also include tools for gender, sexual orientation and age diversity. Stage 1 involves the integration of multiple sources of existing agricultural workforce data, interviews with industry representatives from commodities represented by the fifteen RDCs and a desktop review of the literature to identify the current baseline data and maturity levels for diverse groups workforce participation. Evaluation of diversity and inclusion initiatives within and outside agriculture will identify strategies and resources designed to improve engagement with diverse cohorts. These findings will inform the development of a draft Inclusivity plan that will be shared with focus groups of industry stakeholders, employers (small, medium, large), and representatives of underrepresented cohorts.This feedback will inform the next draft of the plan that will be circulated seeking additional input through an industry wide survey. In Stage 3 a minimum of six pilot programs will trial strategies and tools from the inclusivity plan with a range of different producers and commodity groups through established industry programs. These will be evaluated in Stage 4 with final modifications to the inclusivity plan made, successful case studies and an extension strategy developed for widespread adoption.

Program

Workforce Policy

Research Organisation

Central Queensland University

Objective Summary

The main objective of this project is to create and trial an Inclusivity Plan for Australian agriculture that will support small, medium, and large employers across commodities to engage with, and develop individuals from diverse demographic cohorts in ways that ensure opportunities for decent work, career advancement, and leadership are accessible and inclusive. Sub-objectives include (a) Ensure widespread acceptance of the value that a diverse workforce can bring to the Australian agriculture industry;(b). Equip all employers with clear, practicable actions that they can take to advance their efforts to establish inclusive workplaces considering their business size and enterprise needs, and (c) Identify and showcase examples of good practices that can enhance peer learning regarding implementation of diversity and inclusion strategies and present authentic representation of the Agriculture industry as taking action to provide inclusive workplaces.

The overall outcomes for agricultural industry will be (1) improved understanding and awareness of how to strategically integrate diversity and inclusion activities into daily operations as usual approaches used to attract, develop and retain people in Australian agriculture; (2) an enhanced reputation as a national industry that values diversity and consists of inclusive workplaces, and (3) increased access to the talent required for Australian agriculture to innovate and adapt for a more profitable, productive, and sustainable future. To achieve these objectives and outcomes for Australian agriculture, co-design with agricultural employers, industry organisations and diverse groups is required to ensure widespread ownership and utility of the inclusivity plan.