I have always wondered what it would feel like going for a DEI position and then actually getting it. People in the workplace would look at you as perhaps having less qualifications and experience. They would see you as the check box ticking hire.

It isn't something I would want.

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By Euan Black
16 January 2025

AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Employee resistance to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is rising in Australia as companies struggle to explain the rationale for them and the re-election of Donald Trump emboldens critics to voice their concerns.

Whether the heightened opposition will push Australian corporates to follow the lead of some American companies in abandoning DEI initiatives remains unclear.

But a legislative framework that includes mandatory reporting to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, the publication of employers’ gender pay gaps, and obligations on employers to take proactive steps to eliminate workplace sexual harassment means some experts believe a major Australian retreat from DEI is less likely.

“It won’t be wound back to the same extent,” PwC’s workforce advisory partner Elizabeth Shaw said.

The debate over the value of DEI programs and the ways they are implemented has intensified since Mr Trump stormed to the White House last year promising to crack down on “woke” ideologies and “anti-white feeling”.

However, experts say Australian resistance to workplace diversity programs has been building for some time.

FULL STORY (FREE): https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/workplace/australian-workers-push-back-against-dei-programs-20250116-p5l4vp