CHALLENGE SYSTEMS

This guide supports organisations to examine and challenge structural barriers to cultural inclusion and racial equity in the workplace. Paired with the AHRC’s Workplace Cultural Diversity Tool, it provides a practical framework to assess current practices, uncover risks, and spark meaningful organisational change. By engaging staff at all levels, the Cultural Temperature Check helps shift power dynamics and embed long-term anti-racism strategies into your systems and culture.

Helps organisations evaluate the impact of policies and practices on equality. By analysing decisions through an equity lens and consulting stakeholders, it supports the identification and removal of systemic barriers, promoting fairness, inclusivity, and long-term change in the arts sector.

Helps organisations assess and improve their cultural diversity practices. It provides strategies to challenge systemic barriers, promoting policies and actions that foster inclusive, equitable workplaces. By guiding organisations in embracing diversity, it supports long-term systemic change and greater cultural equity.

ArtsHub speaks with CEOs and artistic directors of several Australian arts companies working with young people from CALD and CARM backgrounds. How do these companies fit within the wider arts ecology? And given that over 50% of the Australian population is now culturally diverse, do mainstream arts companies have more to do in representing the populations they serve?

On 12 October 1997, Australia awoke to the biggest art petition the nation had ever seen. Assembled on the lawns of Parliament House, Canberra were thousands of plastic hands bearing the names of individual Australians that had signed the Citizens’ Statement on Native Title. This article explores the power of petitions.

ACLU worked with 10 visual artists to create images of what achieving Systemic Equality could look like — a vision of a more inclusive and equitable future for America.

Examines the diversity of the main characters in scripted Australian TV drama broadcast between 2016 and 2021, how this compares to the Australian population, and what has changed since the previous Seeing Ourselves report.

An archive that features multiple resources to help individuals better understand the role systems play in maintaining oppression, and their role in challenging it.

Sade Banks is the Founder & CEO of Sour Lemons, a charity disrupting and dismantling systemic racism in the arts and culture sector. In this article, Banks interrogates discussions had in the art sector concerning race and diversity, and highlights where the shortcomings often are.

Explores all the ways artists from culturally and racially marginalised communities suffer racism in the arts sector.

Brings together published and unpublished data and research on representation within the Australian arts and cultural sector. It assesses equity among audiences and participants, artists, the cultural and creative workforce, cultural leaders and Australia Council investment and staff.

Details the types of discrimination complaints that are covered by the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977.

This short quiz is designed to build racial literacy, prompt reflection, and spark meaningful dialogue. Using real-world, scenario-based questions, it encourages critical thinking and offers practical resources for further learning. It takes around 15 minutes to complete. It’s not graded — it’s a tool for growth.

Provides strategies for organisations to prioritise and amplify the voices of marginalised communities. It highlights the importance of inclusive leadership, creating equitable spaces, and ensuring that marginalised perspectives shape workplace culture, policies, and practices for long-term, systemic change.

Outlines best practices for arts organisations, emphasising transparency, accountability, and inclusive decision-making. It promotes diverse leadership structures, ensuring marginalised voices are represented. The report encourages adopting equitable governance policies to dismantle systemic barriers and support long-term change in the arts sector.

Arts Against Racism is focused on ending the harmful impact of racism and white supremacy on Black people in the United States and, consequently, on the entire country by shifting the dominant cultural beliefs and norms. Their hope is to eliminate individual and systemic racism. They’re advancing toward this goal through art and art-related activities that educate communities about the importance of persistent and intentional anti-racist actions such as voting. They are also developing and supporting a national community of social justice-minded artists.

Aims to increase access for culturally and racially marginalised people with disability to arts programs across the ACT, NSW, WA, Queensland and Victoria. It is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

This living plan is Art House’s commitment and roadmap to antiracism and justice in the arts.

In the wake of the George Floyd protests, art workers across the nation wrote open letters to advocate for change at museums. This article explores the power of open letters as a tool to challenge systemic racism.

This is the first research of its kind to put a clear figure on what cultural and linguistic diversity—or lack thereof—looks like in the creative sector at the leadership level.

This report responds to a gap in knowledge measuring cultural and linguistic diversity amongst the leadership of 200 of Australia’s leading arts, cultural and screen organisations, funding agencies and award judges, including the board members and executive staff.

Creative Australia in partnership with Diversity Arts Australia presented Governance Conversations; a series of 6 free, monthly recorded webinars exploring contemporary issues in arts governance.

Explains systemic racism and how it affects Aboriginal communities, and includes tips on how systemic racism can be addressed.

Solidarity statement

A toolkit that contains hundreds of practical resources, inspiring case studies and essential research on tackling anti-racism and increasing diversity in the arts.

Developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission, this national Anti-Racism Framework provides a roadmap for anti-racist action across government, business, and community sectors. It includes key recommendations for addressing racism in the arts and outlines current priorities for systemic change.