Cultural and linguistic diversity
The below is based on information from the Diversity Council Australia, Scanlon Foundation, Australian Human Rights Commission.
What is cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD)?
According to the Diversity Council Australia, cultural diversity is defined as “having a mix of people from different cultural backgrounds – it can include differences in cultural / ethnic identity (how we identify ourselves and how others identify us), language, country of birth, religion, heritage/ancestry, national origin, and/or race.” (Diversity Council Australia (O’Leary, J. and Groutsis D.), Cultural Diversity Definition, Sydney, Diversity Council Australia, 26 June 2020). This definition recognises that cultural diversity includes multiple objective and subjective aspects of people’s cultural background.
Australia is a vibrant, multicultural country. We are home to the world’s oldest continuous cultures, as well as Australians who identify with more than 270 ancestries. Since 1945, almost seven million people have migrated to Australia. This rich, cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths. It is central to our national identity.
Yet, racial prejudice and discrimination remain problems in Australian society. According to the Scanlon Foundation’s Mapping Social Cohesion study in 2020, between 13 and 18 per cent of Australians have experienced discrimination in the last 12 months due to the colour of their skin, ethnic origin or religion, with those of non-English speaking backgrounds reporting the highest experience of discrimination.
Why is cultural and linguistic diversity important?
Organisations that are culturally diverse and inclusive can broaden their strategic perspective, identify and offer new and improved services, innovate to achieve better organisational and community outcomes, and generate high performing multicultural teams.
The enormous diversity in cultural, ethnic, religious and language background of the Australian community offers significant untapped potential which can provide vital language skills, cultural knowledge and understanding, stakeholder and community networks, as well as knowledge of cultural practices, protocols, preferences and needs within diverse community settings.
An international study by McKinsey & Company has found that companies with the most ethnically diverse executive teams are 33 per cent more likely to outperform their peers on profitability. In addition, those in the top quartile of ethnic diversity for their executive teams are 29 per cent more likely to underperform their peers on profitability.
Yet, culturally diverse talent is underrepresented in a lot of Australian workplaces, and especially in leadership ranks, relative to their representation in the wider community. People from different cultural backgrounds face numerous barriers to career progression, mainly because of unconscious bias or prejudice. Where bias and prejudice are present, discrimination can be the result. Ideas about what talent looks and sounds like are especially prone to bias, given that judgments about talent are subjective.
Cultural diversity at New Lambton Football Club
We are currently working on a process to allow people to share information with us about their cultural and linguistic diversity. This will allow us to establish a baseline so we can measure our progress towards creating more opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds and ensuring that our Club is inclusive for all.
New Lambton FC Cultural Diversity Network
We are currently in the process of setting up a Cultural Diversity Network to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for culturally and linguistically diverse people and their allies across New Lambton FC to connect and build a sense of belonging and community. It will be an effective platform to contribute to a positive environment. Anyone at the Club who identifies as culturally or linguistically diverse or considers themselves an ally is welcome to join the Network. Please contact a member of the committee if you would like to find out more or to join the Network.
Key statistics:
- Almost half of Australia’s population (49%) has either been born overseas or has at least one parent who was born overseas
- Over one fifth of Australians (21%) speak a language other than English at home and there are 300 identified languages spoken in Australian homes
- One in ten Australians (1.5 million of the nation’s adult population) believe that some races are inferior or superior to others
- Up to 18 per cent of Australians have experienced discrimination because of skin colour, ethnic origin or religion, 39% of those people experienced this discrimination at work.
- Around one in three (35 per cent) recent migrants said they faced hurdles in finding their first job. Of those who experienced difficulties:
- 64 per cent reported a lack of Australian work experience or references,
- 33 per cent experienced language difficulties
- 23 per cent reported a lack of local contacts or networks
- 15 per cent had difficulties having their skills or qualifications recognized
- People with foreign-sounding surnames have to send more job applications than Anglo-named applicants to get the same number of calls back (Alison Booth, Andrew Leigh, Elena Vargonova, ANU, 2009):
- Applicants with Chinese names have to put 68% more applications in
- Applicants with Middle-Eastern names need to put in 64% more applications
Cultural Diversity and Leadership
Based on the Leading for Change report by the Australian Human Rights Commission, over 50 per cent of the Australian population has an Anglo-Celtic background, around 15 per cent have a European background, and around 20 per cent have a non-European background. However, this cultural diversity is not represented within the senior leadership of Australian organisations: About 95 per cent of senior leaders in Australia have an Anglo-Celtic or European background. Although those who have non-European and Indigenous backgrounds make up an estimated 24 per cent of the Australian population, such backgrounds account for only 5 per cent of senior leaders.
Our aspiration as a community organisation should be that talent and effort can help someone to progress their career, regardless of their background. Yet the evidence shows that we have a significant under-representation of diversity in leadership positions – in particular, non-European and Indigenous backgrounds, who experience more significant barriers from discrimination.
“You can’t be what you can’t see”: Representing the community’s cultural diversity across all levels of the organisation is critical for us to attract and retain culturally diverse talent. This will allow us to continue delivering improved outcomes to our community.