ABC workforce diversity
ABC finds increases amongst culturally and linguistically diverse staff and people with a disability, but some targets still fall short.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
The ABC has published its Diversity & Inclusion Annual Report 2021-2022 which includes the current workforce diversity representation.
ABC has a total of 4537 employees across its organisation but while the number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) employees has increased, the representation of Indigenous staff is still below its target.
Employees who identify as having a disability has increased but is also below target, according to those who disclosed information.
ABC’s Diversity & Inclusion Plan covers a three-year period from 1 September 2019 to 31 December 2022. The Plan was extended from 31 August 2022 to 31 December.
The current Plan focuses on five key diversity areas – gender, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD), disability and LGBTQIA+ with the following workforce targets:
15% culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) content makers
15% CALD executives
8% employees with disability
20% women technologists
3.6% Indigenous employees
Women make up 55% of the ABC’s workforce as at 31 August 2022. This has remained unchanged since August 2021. 44.5% of the ABC’s workforce are men and 0.5% identify as gender diverse.
The ABC has achieved gender parity in its executive group, with 55.8% of executive positions held by women. This is against a target of 50%. The ABC has also increased the representation of women technologists to 21.1% from 20.4% (August 2021). This is against a 2022 target of 20%.
For the reporting period, the representation of Indigenous staff is 3.2% (August 2022) which is a slight decrease from 3.3% from the previous reporting period (August 2021). This is against a target of 3.6%.
The overall CALD representation at the ABC is 16.4% (August 2022). This is an increase from 15.7% (August 2021).
5.6% of employees at the ABC identify as having a disability (August 2022) against a target of 8%. This is an increase from 4.6% (August 2021). This data is based on employees who have provided Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) data and disclosed whether they have a disability.
ABC did not outline any targets or employee numbers who identify as LGBTQIA+ but referenced achievements spanning ABC Pride, Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards, Mardi Gras 2022, Sydney WorldPride 2023, Wear It Purple Day and more.
A new Diversity and Inclusion Plan will be launched in 2023.
You can read more here.
11 Responses
Just a comment about the photo of the ABC News Breakfast A-team… I love Lisa, Michael, Tony and Nate’s chemistry. They clearly like, respect and support each other. And you can see that from their tweets too. That alone makes the show more watchable than their opposition breakfast shows. And yes, I love the diversity in that group too.
Compared to the very very Caucasian commercial stations the ABC is the United Nations
Yep.
They are way more diverse than the other channels, particularly with many fantastic disabled reporters!
Quotas are a common topic of discussion on TV Tonight. Some say that it can be disempowering because people think it’s tokenism or wonder if the person got the job just because of who they are. Then some say that hiring based on merit is too sluggish in reaching the targets or diversity progression.
It can also be a disincentive to watch a program if people think or can tell that the person is there because of who they are and the organisation is not concerned about quality.
I think a compromise is a dual system with both quotas and merit. So quotas with merit based training and progression.
There is no reason for “targets of diversity progression” to exist if the employer really is hiring based on merit. Diversity should only be construed as a merit if it’s the by-product of non-discriminatory hiring practises where only a person’s professional merits are considered. A compromise would be unnecessary.
An issue is that government broadcasters ABC and SBS are public and should reflect the demographics of society. They’re representative. If merit alone is sluggish in achieving that, then in circumstances like that, a compromise could be suitable.
What’s gender diverse? Non-binary?
An umbrella term which includes non-binary, but you can search.
… gotta love the line “The ABC has achieved gender parity in its executive group, with 55.8% of executive positions held by women” – parity: the state or condition of being equal – so gender equality at the ABC means more women than men? strange use of words … then, of course, there is “Women make up 55% of the ABC’s workforce” so that explains it …
If I worked at the ABC, I wouldn’t consider my personal attributes to be the business or concern of my employer. I’d like to hope that my professional qualifications are the reason for my employment. To be hiring people to be mere tokens of ‘inclusion’ sounds offensively patronising.