Future success in our sector is built on practices that support a diverse range of industry professionals, recognising that growth and the prosperity of our regions comes from committed advocates.
Australian Grape and Wine leads Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in Wine (DEIW) efforts by driving uptake on the DEIW Charter for the Australian wine sector. The Charter outlines the DEI principles for driving positive cultural change in all workplaces.
Wine Australia supports research and projects aimed at achieving DEI across the Australian grape and wine sector and maintaining a commitment to diversity in all people development programs supported by us.
If you would like more information about our current projects and would like to be involved, please contact Jo Hargreaves via research@wineaustralia.com.
Current projects
Growing Workplace Diversity
August 2024 – June 2026
This project aims to foster diversity in the food and fibre industries and allows for the further diversification of Australia’s agricultural workforce. Facilitating an inclusive sector for professional careers will assist in the ongoing attraction and retention of diverse human resources across a broad range of rural industries.
Several intended project deliverables were co-designed and developed through consultation with key RDC workforce stakeholders to ensure the project reaches full potential so that the wider agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors can be supported more broadly in their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The project design will act to deliver the below outcomes:
- improve understanding of the current participation of under-represented communities in Australia’s food and fibre workforce
- enhance levels of awareness amongst food and fibre industries around engagement with under-represented communities
- raise awareness among under-represented communities about employment opportunities available to them in Australia’s rural industries
- assist agricultural businesses in the attraction and retention of a diverse workforce
- ensure agricultural businesses and teams can benefit from a diverse workforce by highlighting and platforming success stories.
For this project we are broadly defining under-represented communities as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), First Nations, neurodiverse, and individuals identifying with a disability (visible and non-visible). It is acknowledged none of these communities are homogenous. Workforce and employment opportunities in this project context excludes focussing on short-term harvest/vintage labour hire and migrant employment schemes.
Completed projects
Australian Wine Industry Gender Equity Research and Toolkit
A new online toolkit is helping individuals and grape and wine businesses take practical steps towards achieving gender equity.
Developed by Wine Australia and Australian Grape & Wine (AGW), the Australian Wine Industry Gender Equity Toolkit (the Toolkit) provides guidance, resources and real-world examples to support change across workplaces of all sizes.
The Toolkit was developed in response to research into gender equity in the wine sector and key attraction and retention workforce priorities identified in the One Grape & Wine Sector Plan released in 2024. It was funded by Wine Australia, initiated by AGW’s Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in Wine (DEIW) Committee and jointly conducted by Charles Sturt University and the University of New South Wales.
Covering areas such as recruitment, retention, flexible work arrangements, parental leave, training, mentoring, leadership development and equal pay, the Toolkit helps businesses assess their current practices and identify opportunities for improvement. It was informed and developed by extensive consultation across the sector, including women and gender-diverse employees and contains actionable, sector-specific resources for individual employees and small, medium and large enterprises.
At a time when Australia’s wine sector faces significant economic and structural challenges, improving diversity and inclusion remains essential to building a strong, sustainable workforce for the future.
Access the Gender equity research and toolkit.
A decade of progress for women in the Australian grape and wine sector
A new report Women in the Australian wine sector: How have the numbers changed in CEO, winemaking, viticulture, and marketing roles since 2013? conducted by Dr Jeremy Galbreath of Strateos Group, funded by Wine Australia, has revealed an increase in the representation of the studied roles in the Australian grape and wine community.
Dr Galbreath’s original study assessed gender composition of the wine sector over the period 2007–2013. The new study covering 2021–2023 has shown that nationally, the number of:
- women in a CEO role is now 33.7 per cent, an increase of 21 per cent over the previous findings of 12.7 per cent
- women in a winemaking role is 16.7 per cent, an increase of 7.9 per cent over the previous findings of 8.8 per cent
- women in a viticulture role is now 21.5 per cent, an increase of 11.5 per cent over the previous findings of 10 per cent, and
- women in wine marketing is now 58.4 per cent, an increase of 4.9 per cent over the previous findings of 53.5 per cent.
Supported programs
Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program
The Diversity in Agriculture Leadership program is an initiative of the National Farmers’ Federation to support women in agriculture. It provides successful applicants with a six-month one-on-one mentorship and the opportunity to be part of an alumni of female agriculture leaders.
DEI organisations