Improving Diversity & Inclusion in Recruitment
Turn D&I commitments into fairer, more inclusive recruitment practices
Many organisations have Diversity & Inclusion strategies, frameworks and targets. But having a D&I framework is only the beginning.
The real test is what happens when someone applies for a job.
Bias, discrimination and unintended barriers can enter the recruitment process at multiple points – from how a role is designed and advertised, through attraction and shortlisting, to interviews, assessment, selection and even at offer stage and onboarding.
This practical half-day program helps Hiring Managers, Talent Acquisition and HR professionals understand where bias and barriers can occur, why they matter, and what they can practically do to create a fairer and more inclusive recruitment process.
The emphasis is not simply on awareness. It is about turning D&I principles into action.
Course at a Glance
Duration: Half Day
Delivery: Live Online Public Course or In-house Corporate Program
Experience Level: Foundation to Intermediate
Designed for: Hiring Managers, Leaders, TA and HR Professionals
In-house Delivery: Available Australia-wide and tailored to your organisation
Is Diversity & Inclusion in Recruitment program right for you?
This course is designed for anyone involved in attracting, assessing, interviewing or selecting people.
It is particularly valuable for organisations that already have a Diversity & Inclusion strategy or framework but want to translate those commitments into practical recruitment behaviours and decisions.
It is also highly relevant to government, public-sector and regulated organisations seeking to improve equitable access to employment, reduce recruitment risk and demonstrate how D&I commitments are being implemented in practice.
The program is suitable for:
- Hiring Managers, Team Leaders and People Leaders
- Talent Acquisition and Recruitment teams
- HR and People & Culture professionals
- Interview and selection panel members
- Government and public-sector organisations
- Organisations seeking to improve representation, accessibility and inclusion through recruitment.
Benefits for Individuals
Participants develop a practical understanding of how diversity, inclusion, equity and bias intersect with recruitment decisions.
They learn to recognise conscious and unconscious bias, identify potential barriers to hire, understand direct and indirect discrimination, consider reasonable adjustments, and apply more inclusive approaches throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
Most importantly, participants leave with practical techniques they can apply to their next recruitment process, rather than D&I remaining a theoretical concept.
Benefits for Organisations
An inclusive recruitment process helps organisations translate D&I commitments into meaningful workforce action.
Building D&I capability in Hiring Managers and TA teams can help organisations:
- reduce conscious and unconscious bias in recruitment decisions
- identify and remove unnecessary barriers to employment
- improve consistency, fairness and evidence-based decision-making
- broaden access to talent and potentially improve workforce representation
- strengthen candidate experience and employer reputation
- improve awareness of discrimination, EEO and reasonable-adjustment obligations
- create shared accountability between Hiring Managers, HR and TA for inclusive hiring.
This training will help assist more consistent decisions, reduced bias, improved candidate experience, broader talent access and reduced compliance and reputational risk.
Workshop Overview
This practical and interactive half-day workshop examines Diversity & Inclusion through the lens of the end-to-end recruitment process.
Rather than treating unconscious bias as a standalone topic, participants explore where exclusion, bias or discrimination can potentially occur at each stage of recruitment – and what they can do differently.
10 Concepts covered in this program:
From D&I Awareness to Action
What do diversity, equity and inclusion actually mean in recruitment? Understanding the difference between organisational intent, policy and what candidates experience in practice.
EEO, Discrimination & the Law
Understanding the foundations of Equal Employment Opportunity, protected attributes, direct and indirect discrimination and the legal responsibilities relevant to recruitment.
Unconscious Bias in Recruitment
Exploring how unconscious assumptions, familiarity and personal preferences can influence recruitment decisions — often without the decision-maker recognising it.
Bias Across the Recruitment Lifecycle
Identifying where bias and barriers can occur during:
Role design → Attraction → Advertising → Shortlisting → Interviewing → Assessment → Selection → Offer → Onboarding
Barriers to Hire
Exploring how recruitment processes may unintentionally disadvantage different groups and asking a practical question:
“What might stop someone from applying, progressing or succeeding in our current recruitment process?”
Inclusive Attraction & Job Design
Considering inclusive language, role requirements, flexibility, different advertising channels, accessibility and how organisations can broaden their approach to attracting talent.
Inclusive Interviewing & Assessment
Using structured interviews, consistent criteria, evidence-based assessment and appropriate questioning to reduce subjectivity and support fairer decisions.
Including developing clearer role criteria, structured assessment and evidence to reduce reliance on instinct, familiarity and personal preference.
Disability, Neurodiversity & Reasonable Adjustments
Understanding accessibility, reasonable adjustments and how recruitment practices can better accommodate candidates with different needs.
Positive Action & Special Measures
Exploring what organisations can practically do to address disadvantage and improve access and representation, including an introduction to positive action approaches and, where relevant, lawful special measures.
In Victoria, for example, the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 allows special measures designed to promote substantive equality for disadvantaged groups. (VEOC )
ROI - From Framework to Practice
How do you translate your organisation’s D&I framework, targets and commitments into practical recruitment behaviours?
Participants identify tangible actions they can take within their own role and recruitment processes.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Explain the importance of Diversity & Inclusion within recruitment and selection.
- Recognise where bias, discrimination and barriers can occur throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
- Understand the fundamentals of EEO and direct and indirect discrimination.
- Recognise common forms of unconscious bias and how they may influence hiring decisions.
- Identify potential barriers to hire for different candidate groups.
- Apply more inclusive approaches to attraction, shortlisting, interviewing and selection.
- Understand reasonable adjustments and accessibility considerations within recruitment.
- Use structured, evidence-based recruitment practices to help reduce subjectivity and bias.
- Understand the role of positive action and lawful special measures in supporting greater equality and representation.
- Identify practical actions to translate organisational D&I commitments into everyday recruitment practice.
What's Included?
Participants receive:
- Comprehensive participant workbook
- Practical D&I in Recruitment tools and checklists
- EEO and discrimination learning materials
- Inclusive recruitment and bias-reduction techniques
- Individual action planning
- Certificate of Completion.
Delivery Options
Option 1 – Live Online Public Course
Ideal for individual Hiring Managers, TA practitioners, HR professionals or organisations wanting to enrol a small number of participants.
Join one of our scheduled interactive online workshops and explore D&I in recruitment alongside professionals from other organisations.
Half Day | Live Facilitator-Led Training | Scheduled Dates Throughout the Year
Option 2 – In-house Training for Organisations
For organisations wanting to embed inclusive recruitment practices across their Hiring Manager, HR or Talent Acquisition population, this program can be delivered exclusively for your organisation.
The course can be tailored around your:
D&I Framework • Recruitment Policy & Process • Workforce Diversity Priorities • Organisational Values • Reasonable Adjustment Practices • Hiring Manager Responsibilities • Recruitment Templates & Tools
For larger organisations, the program can also be rolled out across multiple Hiring Manager cohorts or delivered specifically to the TA/HR team.
Tailored and designed around your organisation’s processes, EVP, culture, templates and inclusion priorities rather than being delivered as generic D&I training with no actions.
How to Book
Organisations
Want to move your organisation’s D&I commitments from policy into recruitment practice.
Talk to TAAA about a tailored half-day program for your Hiring Managers, TA team or HR professiona.