Desktop Review & Baseline Report
A structured review of existing strategy, policies, governance, workforce information and related initiatives to establish what exists today.
Advice & Strategy
Diversity & inclusion strategy.
Most organisations have DEI ambitions. Far fewer have a strategy that delivers on them. We close that gap — designing tailored, evidence-based DEI strategies that connect ambition to measurable results.
Scope a DEI strategy engagementC+
Culture Plus method
Business-integrated. Evidence-based. Built to deliver.
From intention to impact
Move beyond isolated initiatives to a coherent, integrated strategy that drives real impact.
The gap between DEI intention and DEI impact is one of the most persistent challenges facing Australian organisations. The cause is rarely effort — it is the absence of strategic coherence. Initiatives operate in silos, disconnected from the systems and leadership practices that shape employee experience. Accountability sits with HR rather than the business leaders with authority to drive change.
We hear versions of the same questions from leaders across sectors:
"How do we channel our enthusiasm into measurable results?"
"How do we bring everything we're already doing into something coherent and strategic?"
"How do we make sure DEI is genuinely aligned with our business priorities — not a parallel HR initiative?"
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Why it matters
A clear DEI strategy is now a business imperative.
A well-designed DEI strategy provides a roadmap for embedding inclusive leadership, equitable systems and decision-making across the organisation — creating workplaces where diverse employees feel valued and able to contribute fully, strengthening innovation, engagement and organisational performance.
Regulators, employees, investors and the broader community increasingly expect organisations to demonstrate genuine commitment, accountability and measurable progress in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
The cost of no strategy
- Fragmented initiatives that generate activity without outcomes
- Weak or absent workforce data — no ability to track progress or demonstrate accountability
- Inconsistent messaging and unclear leadership direction
- Compliance exposure across anti-discrimination, positive duty and WHS obligations
- Reputational and competitive risk as customers, investors and talent demand genuine inclusivity
Strategy snapshot
What you need to know at a glance.
A concise overview of the engagement, deliverables and timeline.
Boards, CEOs, executives and DEI leads who need a coherent, board-endorsed strategy that integrates with business priorities and stands up to regulatory and stakeholder scrutiny.
Definition
What is a DEI strategy?
A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy is a detailed, actionable plan that integrates diversity, equity and inclusion into every stage of talent attraction, development, engagement and retention — while aligning with your organisational goals. An effective DEI strategy has six hallmarks.
01
Clear vision and values
That embrace different generations, gender identity, sexual orientation, abilities, ethnicity, disability status, and cultural and linguistic background.
02
Aligned with the business
Diversity and inclusion initiatives connected to your organisation's mission, strategy and performance goals — not a parallel HR agenda.
03
Focused on impactful action
Including equitable workforce practices and, where relevant, inclusive outcomes for customers, members, communities and suppliers — with initiatives sized for real organisational impact.
04
Leadership accountability and governance
Senior leaders championing inclusion, supported by culture committees, diversity networks and clear ownership across the executive.
05
Embedded in systems and processes
Inclusive practices built into policies, recruitment, performance, development and decision-making — not reliant on individual goodwill.
06
Measurable milestones and reporting
Monitoring workforce diversity and inclusion initiatives using data, lived experience and stakeholder feedback over time.
Why is the solution different
Built to deliver outcomes, not activity.
Tailored, Not Templated
We design to your organisational context — workforce demographics, lived experience, regulatory environment, governance maturity and operating model. Evidence is considered against relevant external best-practice standards and sector peers, never substituted with a generic playbook.
Integrated With the Business
DEI built into the systems that shape decisions every day — recruitment, performance, talent, leadership, WHS, risk and governance — so the strategy moves with the business rather than sitting alongside it.
Measurable & Accountable
Clear measures of success, named ownership, executive scorecards, board-ready reporting and review rhythms that hold the strategy to its outcomes.
Risk-Aware by Design
Trauma-informed and intersectional by design, with consultation and recommendations aligned to anti-discrimination law, positive duty, WHS psychosocial obligations and WGEA reporting.
Designed to be Implemented
Strategies are built for action — with quick wins, named owners, dependencies, milestones and a roadmap that turns endorsement into implementation, not a plan that lands and stalls.
Executive Endorsement Built In
The process tests and refines the strategy with leaders and stakeholders, then supports executive endorsement, clear accountabilities and governance before implementation begins.
Why Culture Plus
Credentials that set us apart
A modern DEI strategy sits at the intersection of evidence-based best practice, operational context, regulatory risk and now AI. Our credentials mean you can be confident that your strategy will be leading, credible, commercial and built to deliver.
Cross-sector track record
Deep expertise with leading employers
Deep expertise and experience delivering DEI strategy work for leading employers across sectors — from ASX-listed companies and professional services to banks, universities, government and infrastructure.
View case studies
Endorsed by Australia's peak HR body
Industry leading expertise
We design and deliver the AHRI short course for HR leaders — focused on DEI best practices and how to build a robust, evidence-based strategy that aligns with business objectives and drives real change. Your strategy is shaped by the same advisor trusted to upskill Australia's HR professionals.
Advanced Accredited CQ Facilitator
Culturally intelligent solutions
Advanced CQ accreditation — the global standard in cultural intelligence. Essential for organisations building strategies in diverse domestic markets, or developing global DEI strategies and localising global initiatives.
DEEP REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE EXPERTISE
Compliance-aligned design
Deep expertise across anti-discrimination laws, the positive duty, WHS psychosocial obligations, WGEA compliance, public-sector obligations and the National Code means your DEI strategy will support regulatory obligations—reducing the risk of regulator scrutiny, legal action, reputational damage and workforce harm.
Oxethica — Certified AI Ethicist
Ethical AI principles, put to work
Certified ethical AI expertise is embedded into your DEI strategy — so algorithmic bias, transparency and fairness are treated as inclusion priorities in AI adoption, not technical afterthoughts.
Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand
Board-ready commercial rigour
Felicity Menzies is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. She brings commercial discipline to your DEI strategy — a robust business case, strategic priorities aligned with your business strategy and operational constraints, measurable outcomes, and strong governance — because a DEI strategy without commercial viability is a cost centre, not a value driver.
Selected work
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Trusted partners
DEI strategy clients.
"
Felicity Menzies has been a valued long-term partner to CAANZ, delivering outstanding work across diagnostic, capability building, and strategy. As a complex organisation wearing multiple hats — employer, educator, member-based organisation, and professional standards body — we needed someone who could grasp that complexity. Felicity did exactly that, customising every engagement to reflect our unique context across Australia and New Zealand. Her deep facilitation skills rate highly among our leaders and staff, and her advisory support is trusted and practical. We highly recommend her.
Shona Tarrant
Group Executive, People and Culture
Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand
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Tangible outputs
What you receive.
Every engagement produces practical, decision-ready outputs. The exact scope is tailored, but the work is designed to leave leaders with a clear evidence base, an endorsed direction and a roadmap they can implement.
Diagnostic & Maturity Assessment
A clear account of current strengths, gaps, workforce experience, leadership capability and organisational maturity, supported by data, trauma-informed consultation and benchmarking against relevant external best-practice standards and sector peers.
Tailored DEI Strategy
A values-led strategic direction with an evidence-based vision, priorities, outcomes and governance aligned to your business and stakeholder context.
Measurement & Reporting Framework
Measures, executive scorecards, reporting cadence and board-level oversight designed to track outcomes and support informed adjustment.
Three-to-Five-Year Implementation Roadmap
Produced during implementation: a sequenced plan of quick wins and longer-term priorities, with named owners, dependencies, milestones, leader messaging guidance and review points that turn strategy into sustained action.
DEI maturity pathway
Know where you are. Define the next achievable stage.
The diagnostic establishes your current maturity against best-practice standards, using evidence from systems, data, policies, leadership and lived experience. The strategy then sets a credible path forward — rather than expecting every organisation to make the same leap at the same pace.
- Stage 1
Reactive
Responding to issues as they arise, with limited structure or consistent ownership.
- Stage 2
Developing
Building foundational commitments, policies, data and leadership awareness.
- Stage 3
Integrating
Connecting DEI priorities to people systems, operations, risk and governance.
- Stage 4
Strategic
Using clear measures, accountability and reporting to drive organisation-wide outcomes.
- Stage 5
Leading
Sustaining inclusive practice, learning and innovation across the organisation and its wider influence.
Our strategy method
An evidence-based approach to DEI strategy.
Every Culture Plus strategy is co-designed with your leaders, grounded in workforce data and lived experience, and built for implementation. The result is a credible, owned, board-ready strategy that integrates with the way your organisation actually runs.
Explore the five phases from evidence gathering to implementation:
DiscoverDiagnoseDesignEndorseImplement
What changes with a coherent strategy
From activity to outcomes.
Performance & Inclusion
Diversity alone does not improve organisational performance — inclusive leadership and equitable systems are the mechanisms that make it work. A well-designed DEI strategy creates workplaces where employees feel respected and able to contribute their perspectives, strengthening problem-solving, decision-making and organisational learning.
Global reach. Industry insight.
A strategy that maps to your context.
From global banks and ASX-listed companies to professional services, universities, government departments, membership bodies, infrastructure operators and not-for-profits — we have designed DEI strategy across sectors, jurisdictions and operating models.
That cross-sector experience means the strategy is shaped to fit your environment — your regulatory exposure, workforce profile, governance maturity and stakeholder expectations — not forced into a generic template. The result: priorities that land, governance that holds, and a roadmap your leaders can credibly own.
Your consultant
CEO, Author and Principal Consultant
Felicity Menzies
Every Culture Plus engagement is delivered with behavioural rigour and practical relevance by Felicity Menzies — psychology graduate, author, and specialist consultant.
- Role
- Founder, Culture Plus Consulting
- Qualification
- Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) — University Medallist; Fellow, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand; Bachelor of Commerce; Advanced Accreditation, Cultural Intelligence; Oxford Saïd AI Governance, Compliance & Ethics; Certified AI Ethicist
- Experience
- 15+ years advising leading global and Australian private and government organisations; former senior executive in financial services and consulting
- Discipline
- Psychology, behavioural science & trauma-informed practice
- Published
- A World of Difference (2016); contributor to leading business and HR publications globally
- Recognition
- LinkedIn Top Voice; commendation in NSW Parliament
Endorsed capability partner
Trusted by Australia's peak HR body.
Culture Plus Consulting is proud to design and deliver flagship DEI programmes for the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) — Australia's peak HR professional body — supporting HR leaders and practitioners to build capability for inclusive leadership and organisational change.
Connect with us to explore how evidence-based DEI training can help your organisation build capability, strengthen culture, and deliver meaningful, measurable change.
Book
A World of Difference.
Our CEO, Felicity Menzies, is the author of A World of Difference: Leading in Global Markets with Cultural Intelligence, a book exploring how leaders build inclusive and culturally intelligent organisations in global environments.
Drawing on Felicity's personal experiences and research-driven insights, the book shows how organisations with cultural intelligence benefit from increased innovation and creativity, access to new markets, and the attraction and retention of top global talent. Readers learn how to develop their own cultural intelligence and that of their workforce, as well as best practices for managing and leading effectively across cultures.
The book is included on the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) member reading list, reflecting its relevance for governance and leadership.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about DEI strategy, answered.
If you have a question we haven't covered, write to us — a real human responds within one working day.
Policy: a formal statement of commitment, rules and principles. Framework: the overall structure and focus areas guiding DEI effort. Strategy: a long-term, actionable plan aligned to business priorities, with vision, governance and measures. Action Plan: the detailed tasks, timelines and named owners that implement the strategy.
While you're here
Related services
●
DEI Diagnostics
An evidence base for strategy — benchmarking, workforce data, lived experience and governance.
DEI Diagnostics →●
Diversity and Inclusion Training
Diversity and inclusion training that translates strategy into inclusive everyday behaviour.
Diversity and Inclusion Training →●
Advice & Strategy
Senior, independent counsel to boards and executives on culture, equity and respect.
Advice & Strategy →
Build a DEI strategy that delivers
Ready to close the gap?
Stop adding initiatives on top of the business. Start building DEI into it — with a coherent strategy, named accountability, and measures that hold.
Start your tailored strategy →