Diversity hiring in Australia means removing barriers and widening access within the law, guided by JobAccess, the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman. You can start today with three actions: rewrite your ad around inherent job requirements, invite candidates to ask for reasonable adjustments, and shortlist against set criteria. Free help and funding are available through JobAccess.
TL;DR:
- Offer reasonable adjustments at every recruitment stage unless they cause unjustifiable hardship; the Employment Assistance Fund may help cover associated costs.
- Use the same rubric for every candidate, anonymize resumes where possible, and record decision reasons to keep assessments tied to job criteria.
- Targeted recruitment is lawful when it is proportionate and addresses documented disadvantage; consult affected communities, record the rationale, and set a review date.
- Track application, shortlist, offer, hiring, and retention rates by group, then use anonymous census data to identify where candidates leave and adjust recruitment or onboarding.
Table of Contents
- What does an inclusive hiring checklist look like at each stage?
- How do you write job ads and outreach that work in Australia?
- How do you reduce bias when you assess candidates?
- What counts as a reasonable adjustment, and who pays for it?
- When is targeted recruitment lawful, and how do you set it up?
- How do you measure whether your diversity hiring is working?
- What can small employers do on a tight budget?
- How do you keep diverse hires and help them progress?
- What do successful diversity hiring programs look like in Australia?
- What have we learned from inclusive hiring?
- How do we help you run an inclusive permanent hire at a fixed fee?
- FAQ
- Sources
What does an inclusive hiring checklist look like at each stage?
Work through the pipeline in order. Each stage below is a place where good candidates are lost, and each fix can be adapted to your resources.
- Job scoping: list the inherent requirements only, and recast “nice to have” items as desirable skills.
- Advertising: encourage applications from underrepresented groups and name a contact for adjustments.
- Outreach: partner with Disability Employment Services (DES) providers, Toozly and university programs.
- Shortlisting: anonymise where you can and score against objective criteria.
- Interviewing: ask structured questions tied to scoring rubrics.
- Onboarding: repeat the offer of adjustments and set up internal supports and networks.
The order of operations matters when you are filling a live vacancy:
- Rewrite the position description before you write the ad.
- Publish the ad with an accessibility contact and a welcome statement.
- Send the vacancy to DES providers and community networks early in the process.
- Shortlist more than one candidate from a marginalised group so no one is the lone outlier.
- Replace “cultural fit” with “cultural add” in your interview notes.
- Confirm adjustments in writing when you make the offer.
Pro Tip: Ask each panel member to score before any discussion. It stops the loudest voice setting the result.
How do you write job ads and outreach that work in Australia?
Start with the ad itself. Invite applications, offer adjustments, and strip out requirements that are not needed to do the job. Give a named person or inbox for accessibility requests so candidates do not have to guess how to ask.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruitment, wording and consultation carry real weight. The Western Australian Government’s guidance on culturally inclusive job advertisements recommends respectful language, mention of flexible work and cultural leave, encouragement to apply even if not every requirement is met, and a support contact. Where a vacancy is limited under an Equal Opportunity Act exception or the Australian Public Service’s section 26 affirmative measure, say so plainly. The Australian Public Service Commission explains the process in its guide for agencies.
Where you advertise decides who sees it:
- Toozly and DES providers for candidates with disability
- University career services for graduate and intern pipelines
- Industry networks and professional associations
- Local community groups and Aboriginal community organisations
Small tweaks widen reach. Swap “digital native” for the actual skill, “must be able to perform the task” for the real task, and “fast-paced, high-energy” for what the day involves.
How do you reduce bias when you assess candidates?
Fair assessment keeps merit at the centre and removes the noise around it. The method is simple, and the discipline is in using it every time.
- Build a scoring rubric from the essential criteria and apply it to every candidate.
- Limit tests and exercises to inherent job requirements, and make them adjustable for accessibility.
- Use a diverse panel and calibrate scoring before interviews start.
- Avoid single-candidate shortlists, and write down the reason for each decision.
- Remove names, photos and other identifying details from CVs before sifting, and score interviews on the same scale for everyone.
Documentation is your protection as well as your record. Under the Fair Work Act it is unlawful to take adverse action against employees or prospective employees for protected attributes, as the Fair Work Ombudsman sets out. A clear paper trail showing that criteria, not attributes, drove the outcome is the strongest answer to any complaint.
Pro Tip: Run one practice interview with a colleague to test whether your rubric separates strong answers from weak ones before real candidates arrive.
What counts as a reasonable adjustment, and who pays for it?
Employers must provide reasonable adjustments to candidates and employees with disability unless doing so would cause unjustifiable hardship. JobAccess says these should be offered proactively at every recruitment stage, not only when someone asks.
- Application: accept alternative formats, and allow extra time or a different submission method.
- Interview: provide questions in advance, Auslan interpreters, or a quieter room.
- On the job: supply assistive technology, flexible hours, or adjusted equipment.
The Australian Government’s Employment Assistance Fund can provide financial assistance to cover costs associated with reasonable adjustments for employees with disability. That funding is a large part of why the hardship argument rarely holds for small employers.
Make the offer visible in your ads, interview invitations and offer letters. Keep a simple manager checklist: what was requested, what was agreed, who is responsible, and when you will review it. The Human Rights Commission’s guidance on creating an accessible and inclusive workplace recommends normalising adjustment conversations from first contact. For neurodivergent staff, a practical guide to ADHD workplace accommodations can help you plan adjustments that fit.
When is targeted recruitment lawful, and how do you set it up?
Federal law allows “special measures” when they are reasonable, proportionate and adapted to address an evidence-based disadvantage. The Human Rights Commission’s guidelines on targeted recruitment add that most jurisdictions do not require prior authorisation, provided the program meets the test.
A defensible program follows a clear process:
- Identify the disadvantage and the evidence behind it.
- Consult the affected community before you launch.
- Set a temporary scope and a review date.
- Document your rationale and how the measure is proportionate.
- State in the advertisement that the vacancy is a targeted measure.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs, the Commission lists specific requirements for special measures. Bring in HR, legal counsel and community partners before you publish, not after a complaint.
How do you measure whether your diversity hiring is working?
You cannot improve what you do not count. Track the same indicators for every group at every stage so you can see where people drop out.
- Application rates and sift pass rates
- Interview representation and offer rates
- Hires and retention over time
- Adjustment requests received and fulfilled
Set short-term targets for the pipeline and longer-term targets for workforce makeup. Large public employers show how this works: the Department of Infrastructure’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy 2025–28 sets concrete targets and tracks progress through employee census data. Use anonymous census data for sensitivity, review it on a schedule, and feed findings back into advertising and onboarding.
| Dashboard field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Applications by group | Whether your ad and channels reach people |
| Shortlist rate by group | Whether sifting is fair |
| Offers and hires by group | Whether interviews are fair |
| Retention over time | Whether onboarding and support work |
What can small employers do on a tight budget?
Most of the impact comes from habits, not spend. Focus your ads on the real job, use structured interviews, offer flexible work, and send vacancies to local DES partners. Our piece on why flexible work attracts candidates shows what draws applicants in. JobAccess and the Commission’s IncludeAbility resources provide templates and point to the Employment Assistance Fund. A fixed-fee recruiter can also keep the cost of an inclusive permanent hire predictable.
How do you keep diverse hires and help them progress?
Hiring is half the job. People stay when they can do their best work and see a path forward.
Start with the first week. Repeat the offer of adjustments, introduce a buddy, and agree how the person likes to receive feedback. The Human Rights Commission’s guidance on creating an accessible and inclusive workplace recommends practical steps such as Disability Employee Networks and manager training, both of which give people a voice after the offer is signed.
Career development is where retention is won. Hold regular check-ins that cover growth as well as workload, give stretch assignments on merit, and make sure promotion criteria are written down and applied evenly. Fair Work Ombudsman guidance on gender pay equity points to focusing on skills and inherent requirements and avoiding stereotyping, which supports representation in leadership and non-traditional fields.
Review adjustments at set intervals, because needs change. Flexible hours, remote options and equipment may need updating over time. Ask for feedback through anonymous surveys, then act on what you learn and tell staff what changed. When people see their input lead to change, they stay and they recommend you to others.
Finally, track retention by group against your hiring data. If people from one group leave sooner, the problem sits in the workplace, not in the candidate.
What do successful diversity hiring programs look like in Australia?
The clearest public examples come from government, where programs are documented and measured. The Department of Infrastructure’s strategy for 2025–28 pairs workforce targets with employee census data and governance, so progress is tracked and reported rather than assumed.
The Australian Public Service uses affirmative measures under section 26 to fill vacancies limited to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants, and the Commission’s guide for agencies sets out the evidence and process expected. The Western Australian Government publishes a step-by-step guide to hiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, starting with how ads are worded.
The pattern across these programs is consistent: a stated target, a documented rationale, consultation with the community, and regular review. None of it requires a large budget. A small business can copy the same sequence at its own scale. Set one clear goal for the next hire, write down why your approach is proportionate, consult a relevant community partner, and review the result after placement.
Our article on creating a hiring strategy for a growing business offers a framework you can build this into.
What have we learned from inclusive hiring?
We find that structure can help turn good intentions into consistent practice. Scoring against agreed criteria, offering adjustments early and recording reasons can help keep hiring focused on the real job. That same paper trail can help show that decisions rested on criteria rather than impressions. Cost is the barrier many small employers raise, and a fixed fee takes unpredictable agency charges out of the picture, so inclusive hiring no longer has to compete with the budget.
— Josh Townsend
How do we help you run an inclusive permanent hire at a fixed fee?
We run permanent recruitment across Australia for a flat fee rather than a percentage of salary. We cover roles from administration to executive leadership, and our candidate replacement insurance covers hires that do not work out in the first 2–3 months. See our fixed-fee pricing or ask us for an inclusive-hiring consultation.
- Fixed fee, set by salary tier
- Permanent roles across industries
- Candidate replacement insurance for early exits
FAQ
Who is a diversity hire?
The term is often misused. In practice, inclusive hiring means choosing the best candidate through a process that does not screen people out for irrelevant reasons. Targeted programs are lawful only when they meet the special measures test, as the Human Rights Commission explains.
How can employers find candidates from underrepresented groups?
Advertise through DES providers, Toozly, university career services and community networks, and say clearly that adjustments are available. Showing accessibility on your careers page also encourages candidates to apply.
Do employers have to make adjustments during recruitment?
Yes, unless it would cause unjustifiable hardship. The Employment Assistance Fund can help cover costs, and JobAccess recommends offering adjustments proactively.
How do you build appreciation of diversity at work?
Normalise talking about adjustments from first contact, train managers, and support employee networks. The Commission’s guide to an accessible and inclusive workplace describes the culture shift this needs.
Sources
- Jobaccess
- Protection from discrimination at work – Fair Work Ombudsman
- Developing culturally inclusive job advertisements
