Australian companies without strong ties to the US can expect minimal impact from the Trump Administration’s efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the US, according to a legal expert, and will continue to chart their own paths to creating inclusive workplaces.
“Our laws haven’t changed, but the lived experience of employees is that not everybody feels as safe as they did a couple of years ago given the geopolitical environment,” says Cilla Robinson, a workplace diversity expert with over two decades of experience. US President Donald Trump has banned equity initiatives and slashed DEI programs.
Workplace diversity expert Cilla Robinson, of law firm King & Wood Mallesons.
Robinson, an employment partner with law firm King & Wood Mallesons, points to three key factors that differentiate Australia from the US: mandatory reporting under the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), special measures provisions in discrimination laws allowing affirmative action programs, and the positive duty in the Sex Discrimination Act to eliminate sexual harassment among other things in workplaces.
“Most Australian employers know that creating inclusive workplaces benefits the bottom line,” says Robinson. “This isn’t just about making everybody feel good and supporting psychosocial wellbeing for all workers – it’s actually business critical.”
Leading through safety and inclusion programs
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Take James Hardie Australia, part of the world’s number one producer and marketer of fibre cement products. The company has launched a raft of programs over the last three years focusing on employee equity and inclusion, initiatives that have led James Hardie Australia ranking for the first time this year among the Australian Financial Review’s list of ‘Best Places to Work’.
The company has established Employee Resource Groups that play a vital role in fostering belonging. A Women’s Initiative Network and Pride Committee create opportunities for networking, advocacy and celebrating diversity.
With employees at its Rosehill site in Sydney alone coming from more than 30 different cultural backgrounds, the company has a diverse workplace. While women make up only 16 per cent of James Hardie Australia’s workforce of 750 employees, the company was recently recognised for its low gender pay gap after mandatory reporting to WGEA.
Jen Warnock, James Hardie Australia director of people and performance for Asia Pacific.
Instead of singling out women or people from diverse backgrounds, creating policies that benefit all employees is the thrust of the company’s One Hardie philosophy, says Jen Warnock, director of people and performance for Asia Pacific.
“At James Hardie, we focus on encouraging diversity of thought to create an environment where everyone has a voice,” Warnock says. “We have a collective responsibility for achieving our shared purpose of building a better future for all – creating a workplace where everyone feels at home.”
This approach extends to practical policies that support employees throughout their life stages. James Hardie Australia offers 16 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers, regardless of gender or family structure.
For returning parents, flexible arrangements are available where operationally feasible, though Warnock acknowledges manufacturing environments present unique challenges. “You can’t take the assembly line home.”
James Hardie Australia also takes a flexible approach to working from home while encouraging employees to work from the office at least three days per week.
The company has also partnered with psychology provider Axis to offer on-site mental health services at their Carole Park site in Queensland, recognising that physical and psychological wellbeing go hand-in-hand.
“The psychologists spend 12 hours on site per week – some of that is one-on-one psychology services, but the rest is actually being out amongst the people and just being available in the lunchroom if people want to talk,” says Warnock.
This helped normalise conversations about wellbeing. In addition to mental health services, the program was expanded to include on-site physiotherapy services and has proven to be so successful – with nearly 90 per cent of available times being booked up – that it’s been expanded to the Rosehill site.
The risks of inaction
Australian companies are facing the highest threshold ever in terms of the protections and the expectations to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment, while incorporating protections that support psychosocial wellbeing, says Robinson of King & Wood Mallesons.
Institutions that champion equity, diversity, and inclusion can empower a diverse workforce.
“Not dealing with inclusion effectively creates myriad legal exposure points for an organisation,” she says. “Abandoning DEI shouldn’t be something that organisations are even considering.”
Employers could face discrimination claims that their “positive duty” hasn’t been discharged, as well as work health and safety regulatory enforcement, stress or workers’ compensation claims, she adds.
Particularly relevant legislation includes the Workplace Gender Equality Act which requires companies with 100 or more employees to report annually to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) about gender composition of their workforce and governing bodies, as well as their workplace equity policies and practices.
Also, under recent amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act, workplaces also have a “positive duty” to eliminate sexual harassment, sex-based harassment and discrimination in the workplace in accordance with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Guidelines.
Having DEI initiatives that offer options to all employees may be the way forward in the current environment, says Robinson. A nuanced approach, focused on supporting all workers’ human rights rather than targeted programs for certain minority groups, makes DEI more palatable.
