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Agenda

Day One - Wednesday, 12 June 2024

8:30

Registrations and Welcome Coffee

Day 1

9:00

Welcome to Country 

9:00

Welcome to Country 

9:15

Chairperson’s Opening Address 

9:30

Recognising domestic and family violence as a workplace issue in accordance with the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children  

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  • Designing flexible and considerate workplace policies that provide safety and continued employment for people who are experiencing domestic and family violence  

  • What role do employers have to play in early intervention?

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Cara Gleeson, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Our Watch 

THE EVOLVING DE&I LANDSCAPE

10:00

Why the conversation on inclusion in the workplace must continue

  • Where are we today? Celebrating progress and bridging gaps 

  • Broadening definitions of diversity and positive action initiatives 

  • Combating discouragement through slow progress and recognising it’s an initiative without a set finish line

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Lisa Annese, CEO, Diversity Council Australia 

10:30

Morning Tea 

11:00

Panel Discussion: Workplaces need employees and employees need a workplace… Is there a disconnect?

  • What can workplaces do to address persisting microaggressions and create a more inclusive working environment?  

  • Acknowledging the differences of the modern workplace and shifting workforce behaviour accordingly  

  • Designing inclusive and effective policies that address intersectionality and intersecting identities 

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Aisha Aboulfadil, Senior Advisor Diversity & Inclusion, Department of Transport  

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Edward Osano, Head of GradWISE, WISE Employment 

 Improving cultural safety and workplace experience for First Nations people  

11:30

Creating a workplace environment that is committed to healing and reconciliation

  • Establishing inclusive workplace policies that enable First Nations employees to prioritise healing and community  

  • Choosing a Reconciliation Action Plan that is right for your organization and your employees 

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Nareen Young, Professor for Indigenous Policy, UTS Jambunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research  

12:00

The future landscape for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

  • Moving beyond filling recruitment quotas and towards improving retention rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees through inclusive working environments  

  • Setting First Nations employees up for success and career progression  

  • What makes a workplace appealing to prospective First Nations employees?

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Richard Hurst, Indigenous Employment and Engagement Manager, Monash University 
 

Kaylee Hipwell, First Nations Employee Journey Expert, ANZ  

12:50

Networking Lunch 

INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN - BUILDING A NEURODIVERSE & ACCESSIBLE WORKPLACE

1:50

Ensuring an inclusive workplace for both apparent and non-apparent disabilities 

  • Creating a workplace that is accessible for people with a disability and neurodiverse people 

  • Designing effective framework to enhance the employee experience 

  • Ensuring workplace policies are inclusive of intersecting identities  

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Rebecca Grace, General Manager, Centre for Inclusive Design 

2:20

Table Discussion: Combating DE&I Fatigue and avoiding burnout 

PITCHING DE&I

2:40

Pitching D&I Initiatives to the C-Suite and the Board 

  • Achieving investment and buy-in from c-suite executives for workplace D&I initiatives  

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Isabelle Swanston, Chief People & Culture Officer, Deaf Connect 

3:10

Afternoon Tea 

ADVANCING RACIAL EQUITY IN THE WORKPLACE

3:40

Cultural Safety Framework 

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Veronica Pardo, Principal, Veronica Pardo & Associates; Chairperson, Western Edge 

4:10

Panel: Unpacking racial equity in the workplace  

  • Understanding the systemic and institutional barriers facing diverse employees 

  • Attracting and retaining culturally diverse talent 

  • Ensuring that CALD employees have ample and equal opportunities for career progression  

  • Avoiding role pigeon-holes for CALD employees 

  • Attracting skilled migrants into under-represented positions 

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Moderator: Veronica Pardo, Principal, Veronica Pardo & Associates; Chairperson, Western Edge  

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 Padmi Pathinather, People and Culture Director, Lifestart Co-Operative Ltd  

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Cilla Robinson, Employment Partner, Clayton Utz (she/her) 
 

Anne Das Gupta, Head of People and Culture, Sydney Water

5:00

Chairperson’s Closing Address 

Day 2

Day Two - Thursday, 13 June 2024

9:00

Chairperson’s Welcome Address 

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Roman Ružbacký, Principal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant (he/him) 

LEADING THE WAY – FOSTERING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE FOR PEOPLE & BUSINESS SUCCESS

9:10

Keynote: Making DE&I accountability a reality in your organisation  

  • Setting measurable DE&I goals that align with business objectives 

  • How to engage employees at all levels in DE&I efforts and ensure DE&I is a shared responsibility 

  • Holding leaders accountable for DE&I outcomes – how to foster a sense of urgency around DE&I initiatives 

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 Dr Teresa De Fazio, Director, Intersect Global Partners

9:30

CEO Panel: Leading with Purpose – Building inclusive cultures and driving employee engagement 

  • Leading inclusivity from the top to drive cultural transformation 

  • Creating a culture of belonging and inclusivity to build an engaged and diverse workforce 

  • Fostering an inclusive workplace culture – supporting refugees and immigrants in the workplace  

  • Ensuring DE&I doesn’t just fall on the shoulders of DE&I practitioners  

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Moderator: Roman Ružbacký, Principal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant 

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Vase Jovanoska, Chief Executive Officer, RANZCOG 

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David Lamming, Chief Executive Officer, Plenary Group 

Steven Zinsli, Chief Executive Officer, Health Now

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Rachel Green, Chief Executive Officer, SANE Australia

10:20

Morning Tea

11:00

Introduction to Interactive Breakout Discussions Introduction to Roundtable Discussions 

11:10

Interactive Roundtable Discussions

Delegates will participate in two sessions of their choosing. Each session will run for 35 minutes. 

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Roundtable A: Taking a strategic approach to improving gender equality, even if the gender pay gap increases 

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Vanessa Paterson, CEO and Principal Consultant, Checksfield Consulting 

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Roundtable B: Exploring and understanding the different types of microaggressions: Verbal, behavioural and environmental  

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 Roundtable C: Creating a workforce of positive bystanders: Practical skill building to ‘call it out’

 

Josie Miller, Senior D&I Consultant, Diversity Inclusion (she/her)

CREATING SAFE SPACES – PROMOTING RAINBOW INCLUSION & ALLYSHIP AT WORK

1:25

Case Study: D&I roadmaps and measurement metrics (AWEI) 

  • How the AWEI brought significant change to LGBTQ+ inclusion 

  • Applying methodology to other D&I Initiatives 

  • Discussion on measurement and practice 

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Christopher Nelson, Associate Director People, Pride in Diversity, ACON 

12:40

Networking Lunch 

1:40

Panel Discussion: Creating an inclusive environment that permeates all levels of an organisation  

  • Unpacking the impact of LGBTQIA+ friendly policies on employee engagement and retention  

  • How to address stereotypes and biases towards non-binary individuals in the workplace so they feel accepted and included 

  • How to encourage open and respectful dialogue on LGBTQIA+ Issues in the workplace 

  • How to build an ally network within the organisation 

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Kim Gascoigne, Inclusion & Diversity Program Manager, Cisco 

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Steph Sands, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Capgemini 

2:30

Re-engineering diversity, inclusion and belonging 

  • What’s the numbers telling us about diversity in engineering and what can we do about it? 

  • How do we grow the pipeline? 

  • Advancing our society through ‘diverse’ great engineering 

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Luli Adeyemo, Director & Founder, Best Case Scenario 

3:00

Afternoon Tea 

ASSESSING AND MEASURING DE&I OUTCOMES

3:30

Interactive Mini-Workshop: Measuring inclusion and diversity  

  • What are the desirable outcomes of diversity and inclusion initiatives? 

  • Identifying effective metrics to genuinely measure an organisation’s inclusivity 

  • Avoiding settling solely for diversity measurements  

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Fiona Krautil, Founder, Diversity KnowHow 

4:30

Forum Wrap-Up and Identifying Key Takeaways 

4:45

End of Forum

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