Australia’s multiculturalism is self-evident. About 28% of our population was born overseas, with another 20% having an overseas-born parent. According to one estimate, 32% of the Australian population have a non-Anglo-Celtic background. However, such cultural diversity is not proportionately represented within the senior leadership of our organisations.

This blueprint provides, for the first time, a snapshot of the cultural composition of senior leaders in Australian business, politics, government and civil society. It finds that the ethnic and cultural default of leadership remains Anglo-Celtic. Australian society may not be making the most of its diverse backgrounds and talents, as figures in the following table indicate.