In Australia there are a growing number of organisations that have introduced effective change by implementing affirmative action, equal opportunity and diversity strategies. However little is known about how particular organisations achieved such change, or whether they have been able to sustain it.

This report presents the findings of a research project designed to gather evidence about what leads organisations to take action around affirmative action or equal opportunity for women, and how organisations negotiate and implement such ‘EEO/diversity action’ over time. The findings, from case studies undertaken at nine major Australian organisations, explain why these organisations took EEO/diversity action, how they went about negotiating and implementing such action and how such action was monitored and evaluated.

The project was undertaken by RMIT University and the NSW Department for Women. It was jointly funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) and the National Diversity Think Tank (NDTT). The case study research was undertaken over a twenty month period between March 2002 and November 2003.