Tokenism

Arts and Culture Governance Spotlight Report

A report that provides an effective comparison and benchmark with other not-for-profit companies and organisations. 1,878 senior leaders in the not-for-profit sector were surveyed and results show board diversity figures and governance training.

Commissioning for Diversity and Inclusion Guidelines — Screen Content

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Diversity and Inclusion Commissioning Guidelines – Screen Content” will require production companies to provide greater access and opportunity to under-represented people and perspectives – on and off screen – including gender diversity, Indigenous Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people living with a disability and the LGBTQI+ community.

Diverse Book Finder

Focused on Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities in the US, this tool allows libraries to upload their catalogue of children's books for an analysis of the representation of different cultures. Crucially this is not only about WHO is represented, but also HOW they are represented, eg, as 'folklore' type tales, as stories of oppression and resilience, or if diverse characters are presented as living lives that are identical or interchangeable with another cultural group.

Diversity Baseline Survey

The Diversity Baseline Survey, conducted in 2015 and 2019 by Lee & Low Books, shows the US book publishing industry remains overwhelming white (76%). However the process of tracking diversity has revealed there has been some improvement over the four years, in particular with more publishers taking part in diversity tracking and more effort to create a pipeline of diverse talent.

Ethical Storytelling Podcasts

Selected podcasts from the Ethical Storytelling community on inclusive, human-centered storytelling and marketing in not-for-profit work. Featuring filmmakers, photographers and writers on their failures and lessons; as well as NGO practitioners and clients’ reflections on best practices and wrestling with power dynamics.

Gari Yala: Centring the experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work

This piece of research provides a firsthand understanding of the diversity of Indigenous workers’ experiences in the workplace. Named 'Gari Yala' – which means ‘speak the truth’ in Wiradjuri language – it also provides 'ten truths' organisations must understand to improve workplace inclusion for Indigenous staff.

How To Co-Create: Practical Lessons From The Field

Co-creation can be misused, and the various risks that come with co-creation are explored in this guide. Alongside this are tips for using ethical methods that can help to reap the benefits of shared power and authorship. This guide warns against generic solutions, stating that local, societal factors must always be taken into account.

Inc Arts Unlock - Anti-racism toolkit

The Unlock toolkit is a free comprehensive resource aimed at arts organisations. It contains over 100 actions that will help creative workplaces become more inclusive, and focuses on hiring, leadership, work and care.

Learning pattern: Centering Marginalised Knowledge

Developed by “Whose Knowledge?,” a global campaign recentering marginalised knowledges online, this "learning pattern" is designed for those who want to support marginalised communities add to Wikimedia projects. It offers critical questions, suggestions, and examples from experiences to illustrate lessons.

Living Music Report

Survey of programming in Australian Major Performing Arts Organisations in 2019, measuring the diversity of the repertoire of Australia's largest orchestras.

Out of the 2006 works performed across 2019:

'3% were written by female composers
9% were written by Australian composers
19% were written by living composers
0.45% were written by CALD Australian composers
0.05% were written by First Nations composers'

Navigating culture in the workplace with Professor Nareen Young

"Organisations don't do things because it's the nice thing to do...change happens when we put pressure on": In this episode of the Voices of Australia podcast, Professor Nareen Young discusses how Australian workplaces can become more diverse and inclusive. Nareen is Professor for Indigenous Policy and Indigenous Workforce Diversity at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.

"Our Stories, Our Knowledges" resource series

A resource series for marginalised communities working on knowledge production, featuring stories, lessons, tools and tips. Part 1: Decolonising Our Stories and Knowledges, Part 2: Transformative Practices for Building Community Knowledges, Part 3: Adding Our Knowledge to Wikipedia, Part 4: How to Ally and Be a Good Guest.

Re-Tool: Racial Equity in the Panel Process

A tool that provides effective strategies to intervene in ways that expand and empower collective work for racial equity in arts organisations, including sections on how to make your grant panel, application forms, recruitment process and board more racially diverse. It also includes a concise glossary of terms.

The Inclusion Imperative: Why Media Representation Matters For Kids' Ethnic-Racial Development

A common sense media report authored by four academics with findings on how children make sense of, think about, and evaluate their own ethnicity-race (and the ethnicity-race of others) - and the effect of negative and positive media representations and depictions.

It uses evidence to chart a path towards understanding these influences - and concludes with general considerations for parents, media content developers and researchers.

The Unusual Suspects: damaging for Filipino stories

Gloria Demillo writes about how not all representation is productive, and how damaging the impact of bad representation can be to a vulnerable group. The Unusual Suspects and its portrayal of Filipino domestic workers are harmful to ongoing work against worker abuse and exploitation.

Demillo argues that representation should come from community engagement, imploring creatives to consider: who is their real audience, and who should be telling the story?

“Theatre Can’t Miss This Moment”: An Interview with Audra McDonald

US theatre legend Audra McDonald speak on theatre, race and colour-blind casting.

'There are so few directors of color...a lot of the trouble would be solved if you had other people of color in the room saying, “Well, this is why you’re getting blowback right now,” or “Just open your mind to this,” or “Why are we not telling more of these people’s—our people’s—stories?” You have no one in the room thinking about that, because they can have the privilege to not have to think about that'.

‘Tokenised, silenced’: new research reveals Indigenous public servants’ experiences of racism

Australian research into the experiences of Indigenous people in the workplace and why there's a consistent lack of representation at leadership levels.

'A deeper understanding about what racism is and how race works is a good place to start. Non-Indigenous colleagues and managers must commit to anti-racist workplaces. This requires managers to act on reports of racism - the continued failure to do so makes them complicit in perpetuating white supremacy.'

Towards a racially just workplace

Overcoming 'the illusion of inclusion'. This article sets out three key guidelines for a better approach to diversity - learning lessons from diversity efforts that have failed in the USA. It's a long and broad overview that covers work issues at all levels.

UK Music Diversity Taskforce - Ten-Point Plan

Delivered by the Music Diversity Taskforce, this Ten-Point Plan aligns evidence and metrics to strategic actions to help increase diversity and boost inclusion at the trade bodies that represent the majority of the UK music industry — covering governance, policy and board strategy.

Watch now: Using First Nations Protocols for Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

Lucy Byrne with Patricia Adjei, Dr Paula Abood, Travis De Vries and Jake Smithers as they discuss the First Nations Protocols. Together they highlight the importance of everyone understanding these Protocols to ensure care of First Nations Intellectual Property through appropriate permissions, acknowledgement and consent. This discussion illustrates how everyone can be an ally in holding these Protocols up to accomplish safe consultation and consent when using First Nation stories & knowledge.

Whitewashed: why does Australian TV have such a problem with race?

Discussion of representation in Australian TV, from the awful stereotypes of the 90s, like Neighbours' first non-white family, the Lims, being accused of eating a dog, to shows that got it right, such as Gary Foley on A Country Practice.

'Crucially, Foley says, he was allowed to write his character himself. “[Creator] Jim Davern rung me up and asked me if I was interested,” Foley told Guardian Australia. “I said I was only interested if I could write my own character and my own dialogue.”'

Writing With Color

Writing and resources about racial, ethnic and religious diversity, including Q&A-style writing advice, guides and book recommendations.

Mods from diverse backgrounds answer questions sent in by writers about writing issues related to cultural diversity, with a searchable database of answers. Site does not accept 'Questions that seek our permission or approval to write about a topic,' but rather offers advice on research.