Chapter 10 - Decolonisation

Summary

As many might have anticipated, the Australian Publishing Industry Workforce Survey on Diversity and Inclusion (API Survey) found the publishing industry in Australia “is largely white, including a high percentage who identify as British. Fewer than 1% of publishing professionals are First Nations Australians … [t]he workforce is concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, skews young and female, especially at the lower levels, and is more likely than the general population to be privately educated and to have a postgraduate degree… [and there is] high LGBTQ+ representation”. In introducing the study, Bowen and Driscoll note that while they are not surprising, these findings signal that “the potential for change is now evident: the data provides the insights necessary for targeted redress initiatives”. Future iterations of the survey will be important in measuring the impact of such redress.