The inaugural NAB Australian Business Diversity Index has been released.

NAB Australian Business Diversity Index – Q2 2014 (PDF, 97KB)

As a new addition to NAB’s Quarterly Business Survey, which has been tracking Australian business conditions and confidence for more than 22 years, we asked Australian businesses to assess the level of diversity within their organisations.

Michaela Healey, Group Executive People, Communications and Governance at NAB, hopes that this research will help industries and businesses better understand diversity performance, in an effort to drive change.

“We need to fundamentally change the culture of business to be more inclusive,” said Michaela. “This applies not just for women, but for people of different cultures, of all age groups, for those with disabilities and for the LGBTI community. In doing so, we’ll be creating stronger businesses, a community with unique perspectives and critical thinkers – and a potential economic advantage for Australia.”

Here are some key insights from the Index:

• Around 30% of Australian business scored themselves “high” in terms of overall diversity. Conversely, almost 20% rated “low”.
• Diversity was highest for gender, age, race and ethnicity and lowest for disability.
• Overall diversity (and across all categories) was highest in Recreational, Personal Services & Hospitality (75.8 points) and lowest overall in Manufacturing (67 points). However, for ASX 300 firms, overall diversity (and across all categories) was highest in Retail (91.1 points) and lowest overall in Wholesale (70 points).
• Recruitment, advancement and talent retention was the key driver of diversity for all Australian companies and for the ASX 300.
• Australian business achieved a Gender Diversity score of 71.9, while the ASX 300 scored 78.3.

For more information, read the full report.

More from NAB:

• NAB Quarterly Australian Wellbeing Index – Q2 2014
• NAB Monthly Business Survey – July 2014
• NAB Quarterly Australian Consumer Anxiety Index – Q2 2014