Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Working towards Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

by Michele Barnes, Alana Grech, Georgina Gurney and Kristin Hoel ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

In late 2020, the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee was created at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies to address systemic inequalities in our workplace and research practice. This volunteer-based Committee has over 20 members affiliated with the ARC Centre, and includes postgraduate students, early-career and senior researchers.

The Committee was formed to ensure JEDI values are considered and included throughout the ARC Centre’s work, including research, training, and stakeholder engagement. While the ARC Centre is already a leader in conducting world-class marine research, the Committee’s goal is to improve our leadership in addressing systemic inequalities in academia.

The Committee focused on four key areas assigned subcommittees and described under the subheading below. These subcommittees worked throughout 2021 to bring JEDI values into the spotlight, develop policy and guidelines and generate conversations within the ARC Centre community to change practice.

1. How we work

This subcommittee aims to strengthen members’ understanding and implementation of inclusive and just research practices within the ARC Centre and in the places where our research is conducted. “How we work” is concerned with understanding and addressing what ARC Centre members can do to ensure JEDI values are upheld. One of their primary outputs during 2021 were guidelines for researchers about parachute science and how to avoid it. This subcommittee released an ARC Centre Code of Conduct to provide a clear statement of the expectations of members in respect to their professional and personal conduct.

2. Pipeline, recruitment, and retention

This subcommittee is focused on creating measures that ensure and support transparency and diversity in student and staff recruitment and retention, as well as through all levels of employment from casual to senior staff. Throughout 2021, this subcommittee proposed and implemented a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement on the ARC Centre careers page. They also developed an information package for the ARC Centre’s Scientific Management Committee with evidence-based suggestions for improving diversity throughout the pipeline.

3. Leadership

This subcommittee focused on imbalances in leadership diversity and implemented a series of professional development programs, trainings, and events that focused on JEDI issues. These included training, film events, a NAIDOC week presentation by Michelle Deshong, and an Aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency course. This subcommittee also organised for permanent JEDI committee representation on the ARC Centre’s Scientific Management Committee.

4. Values, culture, image, and reputation

This subcommittee has been working to embed and celebrate JEDI in the Centre’s culture and community. In 2021, they developed the JEDI webpage on the ARC Centre’s website, worked with the ARC Centre seminar committee to ensure a diversity of speakers on diversity and inclusion related topics which resulted in three JEDI focused seminars in late 2021: ‘Turning the tide of parachute science’ with Paris Stefanoudis, ‘The AIMS Indigenous Partnerships Plan – moving from engagement to partnerships’ with Manuwuri Forester, Bob Muir and Libby Evans-Illidge, and ‘Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies’ with members of the JEDI Committee.

Rachel Alderice doing fieldwork.