‘World-first’ alliance launched to bolster inclusive workplaces

A global alliance, being dubbed a world-first, has been launched this week to increase inclusivity in workplaces.

The Global Inclusion & Diversity Alliance (GIDA) has been rolled out at the Workplace Inclusion Aotearoa 2023 international conference in Auckland this week, hosted by Diversity Works New Zealand.

The alliance joins together diversity and inclusion (D&I) organisations from around the world that all have a common goal of making workplaces more equitable. 

The next 12 months will see GIDA work on delivering initiatives with this goal front of mind and partnering with organisations that are focused on building more inclusive workplaces.

“The launch of GIDA is a significant step forward in making workplaces across the world more equitable,” said Lisa Annese, the chief executive of Diversity Council Australia (DCA).

“The alliance recognises the unique cultural and historical context of each member country and works to position diversity and inclusion initiatives within those contexts.

“Thirty per cent of DCA’s members are multinational organisations. Having these connections with international partners will enhance the information and advice that we provide to Australian members and ensure that their D&I work is grounded in a local context.

“These founding partners are just the beginning of the alliance. We are really keen to make sure we are globally representative and are continuing to look for international partners to join us.”

The launch of the alliance comes not long after research showed Australia is still falling short on seeing progress in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives when compared to other jurisdictions.

Kantar’s annual Inclusion Index benchmark for 2022, which HR Leader reported on in December, put Australia in ninth place when it comes to DEI initiatives. 

The Netherlands took out the number one spot, followed by Germany in second place, Mexico in third, Spain in fourth, Canada in fifth, the UK in sixth, Brazil in seventh and the USA in eighth.

Rounding out the top 10, after Australia, was France.