This raises an imperative for comprehensive, national data specifically tailored to First Nations women and women of colour on indicators such as pay gaps, representation in formal leadership positions, rates of incarceration in the justice system, fines and justice outcomes, and measures of women in politics. The need for this kind of data is also reflected, for instance, in Victoria’s Gender Equality Act 2020, which requires defined entities, including public service bodies and public entities,60 to develop a Gender Equality Action Plan that includes a workplace gender audit. In that audit, data is to reflect intersectionality, regarding not just gender, but also other attributes such as ‘Aboriginality, age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, race, religion, [and] sexual orientation’.61 By having regard to intersectional factors, the Act incorporates organisational consideration of how experiences of gender inequality may be compounded by discrimination, or disadvantage experienced from other attributes.62 Already, existing research and data attests to how, for First Nations women and women of colour, their race and gender textures not just their own sense of being in the world, but also how they navigate it and are perceived within it. This spans both private and public spaces. For instance, during the pandemic, culturally and linguistically diverse migrant and refugee women have experienced an increase in incidents of family and domestic violence.63 Whilst some of the factors contributing to this uptick are shared by other women in Australia, such as increased confinement at home during lockdowns, 64 other factors increasing this risk are specific to the lives of migrant and refugee women. These include a reliance on partners for residency status, language and cultural barriers to accessing help, an inability to access government supports due to visa status, a lack of culturally appropriate services, and an absence of trusted social networks in Australia. 65 A survey of 543 women in the Workplace Survey Report 2021 conducted by Women of Colour Australia found that the majority of respondents reported facing challenges in the workplace relating to their identity as a woman of colour,66 with almost 60% experiencing discrimination in the workplace.67 Notably, most women also reported that the leader of their organisation was a man who was not a person of colour.68 Additionally, 42% of respondents to the Workplace Survey Report 2021 felt that their identity as a woman of colour was not recognised and valued in the workplace. Understanding intersectional experiences in the workplace is not just a matter of addressing less favourable treatment, but also proactively recognising and utilising the strengths and expertise intersectionality brings.69 In workplaces there are complex challenges for First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse women, who face intersectional inequalities and forms of discrimination. Harms are often perpetuated by organisational practices, cultures and leaders that disadvantage women in invisible ways. The Commission’s 2020 report Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces identified that intersectional complexities arise in relation to barriers to reporting workplace sexual harassment – such as barriers surrounding cultural myths and stereotypes, language proficiency, fears of retribution or job loss, insecure work or visa status, a lack of understanding of one’s own rights or where to access help, and a distrust of government or official complaint channels.70 National Anti-Racism Framework Scoping Report 2022 | 68