This event has been cancelled. Please directly with any queries.

Unlocking Workplace Inclusion: Power of a Socioeconomic Lens (CANCELLED)

Name: Unlocking Workplace Inclusion: Power of a Socioeconomic Lens
Start: 2026-02-18T12:00:00+11:00
End: 2026-02-18T12:00:00+11:00
Location: RMIT Kaleide Theatre

About

The EEON Committee is pleased to invite you to this timely and thought-provoking event exploring socioeconomic background as a critical yet often overlooked dimension of workplace diversity and inclusion.

In Australia, socioeconomic background is one of the strongest predictors of feeling excluded at work, frequently outweighing other diversity metrics such as gender, disability or LGBTIQ+ status. Yet few organisations actively address this lens in their equity and inclusion strategies.

In this session, we’ll explore:

What the evidence reveals about the impact of socioeconomic background and how it shapes access to opportunity and how employees experience the workplace.
The business case for inclusion of this lens,
Intersectionality: How including a socioeconomic background lens can strengthen gender equality and broader DEI outcomes.
A road map: Practical organisational levers to promote more equitable opportunity and make progress
Where and how to get started.

The session will be led by Dr Lisa Fowkes,

Dr Lisa Fowkes currently leads SVA’s Employment work, bringing more than 20 years’ experience as a practitioner, researcher and policy advocate focused on improving access to employment opportunities for people at risk of exclusion. She previously held senior roles over nearly a decade with a large not‑for‑profit employment services provider, and her PhD examined the design and delivery of employment programs in remote First Nations communities.

Through initiatives such as SVA’s Employer Innovation Labs and the Fair Chance agenda, Lisa partners closely with employers to redesign recruitment, training and progression practices, helping employers remove exclusionary barriers and improve access to good quality jobs for young people from low socio‑economic backgrounds and others facing disadvantage. Her work brings a strong socio‑economic lens to gender equality, that supports organisations to strengthen outcomes and meet their obligations by embedding inclusive practice beyond compliance into everyday decision‑making.