Findings increased over time. The Australian population Providing definitive statistics about the cultural Figure 1: population by cultural diversity of the Australian population is a Australia’s background difficult task. There are no official statistics on the ethnic or cultural composition of the population. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, through the Census, collects data on of birth, languages spoken people’s place at home, and self- identified ancestry. Anglo-Celtic However, none of these European variables alone provide a satisfactory measure Non-European of cultural diversity. Indigenous In 2016, the Leading for Change report referred to studies suggesting at least 10 per cent of the population have a non-European background. It drew upon Census figures from 2011 which showed that almost half of the Sources: ABS; estimates from RBA ERG Australian Senior leaders of population were born overseas, or have a Australian organisations parent born overseas.13 The cultural diversity of Australian society is New analysis, undertaken for this report, significantly under-represented within the provides an updated estimate of Australia’s senior leadership of Australian organisations. cultural diversity. By combining aggregate Our study examined senior leaders in data from the 2016 Census and record-level business, politics, government and higher data from the 2011 Census, in particular education. Of those who occupy 2490 of the responses to questions about ancestry and most senior posts in Australia, 75.9 per cent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have an Anglo-Celtic background, 19.0 per identification, we suggest that the Australian cent have a European background, 4.7 per population is even more culturally diverse cent have a non-European background and than previously estimated.14 0.4 per cent have an Indigenous background. We estimate that about 58 per cent of the Described another way, about 95 per cent population has an Anglo-Celtic background. of senior leaders in Australia have an An estimated 18 per cent of the population Anglo- has a European background, 21 per cent of Celtic or European background. Although the population has a non-European those who have non-European and background, and 3 per cent of the population Indigenous has an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds make up an estimated 24 per cent (Indigenous) background. According to these of the Australian population, such backgrounds estimates, account for only 5 per cent of senior leaders. cultural diversity has Australia’s
Findings The Australian population Providing definitive statistics about the cultural diversity of the Australian population is a difficult task. There are no official statistics on the ethnic or cultural composition of the population. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, through the Census, collects data on people’s place of birth, languages spoken at home, and self- identified ancestry. However, none of these variables alone provide a satisfactory measure of cultural diversity. In 2016, the Leading for Change report referred to studies suggesting at least 10 per cent of the population have a non-European background. It drew upon Census figures from 2011 which showed that almost half of the Australian population were born overseas, or have a parent born overseas.13 New analysis, undertaken for this report, provides an updated estimate of Australia’s cultural diversity. By combining aggregate data from the 2016 Census and record-level data from the 2011 Census, in particular responses to questions about ancestry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification, we suggest that the Australian population is even more culturally diverse than previously estimated.14 We estimate that about 58 per cent of the population has an Anglo-Celtic background. An estimated 18 per cent of the population has a European background, 21 per cent of the population has a non-European background, and 3 per cent of the population has an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) background. According to these estimates, Australia’s cultural diversity has increased over time. Figure 1: Australia’s population by cultural background Anglo-Celtic European Non-European Indigenous Sources: ABS; estimates from RBA ERG Senior leaders of Australian organisations The cultural diversity of Australian society is significantly under-represented within the senior leadership of Australian organisations. Our study examined senior leaders in business, politics, government and higher education. Of those who occupy 2490 of the most senior posts in Australia, 75.9 per cent have an Anglo-Celtic background, 19.0 per cent have a European background, 4.7 per cent have a non-European background and 0.4 per cent have an Indigenous background. Described another way, 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.