Our approach to diversity and inclusion

Last updated: 26 June 2020

We’re committed to diversity, inclusion and equality, and we know there is more we can do to help create a future that is inclusive of everyone.

So, how will we do this?

• To begin with, we are revisiting our diversity and inclusion plan and taking a good look at the ways we can improve across five key areas – our team, our products, our content, our education and our community.


• We want our team to have a strong voice in the process, so we are forming the MECCA Diversity Council, which will include one or two team members from each State and Territory across Australia and New Zealand. Team members will be able to submit an expression of interest in July.


• We will also engage independent diversity and inclusion experts along the way so we can listen and learn about the best ways we can create meaningful change.


• We’re also in the process of joining Diversity Council Australia; an independent not-for-profit body advising on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and we will be leveraging their extensive research and knowledge to help us in this space.

We’ve created this page so we can keep you updated as we progress on this journey. Below are our five key areas of focus, our proposed approach, and our actions to date.

Our team - Creating an inclusive workforce that supports diversity

We’re committed to ensuring our team reflects the diversity of our customers and our community.

Recently, there have been calls for organisations to disclose data about the cultural backgrounds of all their team members. Unlike the USA where collecting this data is mandatory, it isn’t usual practice to collect this information in Australia.

We have gone out to our team members via email asking them to voluntarily share more information about themselves to help us understand the demographics of our team. We have updated our team member profile fields to allow current team members to update this information at any time, and this will also facilitate this data collection as new team members join. It is not compulsory for our team members to share this data with us – it is completely optional.

We developed these fields using insight from peak diversity bodies, including Diversity Council Australia, the Australian Network on Disability, Pride in Diversity, and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. We have also utilised census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Over the coming weeks, we will collate this information and it will help inform our plan.

We’re also working to understand the current demographics of the Australian and New Zealand populations. As an example, according to Australian Human Rights Commission analysis, 3% of the Australian population identify as having an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural background, 58% of the Australian population have an Anglo-Celtic cultural background (English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh), 18% identify as having a European cultural background, and 21% identify as having a non-European cultural background. We will use information like this to help us set appropriate benchmarks.

Our products – Meeting everyone’s beauty needs

Our purpose is to make people look and feel their best, and an important part of this is offering products that meet everyone’s beauty needs.

Currently, of the 136 unique complexion lines offered by MECCA, we stock 100% of the shades available for 93 of those complexion lines, representing 19 brands. There is full availability online and the instore ranging varies depending on the store size and concept. Whilst there is a full representation of shades for a subset of complexion lines in store, we recognise the need to expand our offering.

To that end:

• We will expand the shade range within MECCA MAX Life Proof foundations and concealers, and these will launch in early 2021.


• We will ensure that there is a full set of complexion testers for every brand stocked in each store, and this will be in place by November 2020.


• We will continue to work in partnership with our brands on how we can broaden the range of shades available on their display units in store.


• We will launch eight new complexion product families by October 2020, and we are committed to taking 100% of the shades on offer for all of those.

Our content - Reflecting the many faces of MECCA

We have been working to increase the diversity shown in our marketing, advertising and social media imagery.

There are many faces of MECCA’s community, including our team members and our customers, and we want to show this diversity in all parts of MECCA.

We’re committed to continuing to work with a broader range of content creators, influencers, models and creatives to ensure our visuals provide a voice to people from a more diverse range of backgrounds, in a way that reflects the Australian and New Zealand populations.

We will also deliver more campaigns like our Many Faces Of MECCA initiative, to highlight the diversity of the MECCA community, which you can watch here.

Our education – Providing education to our team to support diversity and inclusion

We believe education is the most powerful step we can take towards achieving equality for all.

For all our team members, including our Support and Distribution Centre teams, we provide annual Respect in the Workplace training, which includes modules on bullying, harassment and discrimination so we can help our people learn about best practice in this space, and know how to identify and manage it in real-time.

We will expand our company-wide education offering to provide our team with the opportunity to listen and learn from the experiences of others from a range of backgrounds and to understand what we can do to work towards equality in our communities.

For all our team members in store, we have built an education program that represents a diverse demographic reflecting a broad range of skin complexions, gender identities, ages and more. We are also committed to ensuring our education tone of voice across all materials is inclusive.

However, in order to provide exceptional services to the many faces of our MECCA community, (be it a foundation match, a make-up application or skin- and hair-care advice), we need to ensure our team can build confidence by having ample opportunities to practice these skills. As a priority, we will be working with MECCA’s Diversity Council and our Education team to understand the gaps and how we can provide more support to our team through training.

Our community - Providing support to educate, elevate and empower girls through education

Established in 2017, MECCA M-Power is our philanthropic program that supports girls and young women from a range of backgrounds through education and mentoring. Since M-Power was created, MECCA has donated more than $2 million to organisations that are making a difference in this space.

Our vision is to create an equitable world where women and girls, regardless of background, can prosper and achieve their full potential. Our goal is to help 10,000 girls finish secondary school by the year 2025, and we will achieve this through our work with our long-term educational partners:

• In Zimbabwe and Zambia, we partner with CAMFED, a pan-African movement revolutionising how girls’ education is delivered.


• We partner with The Stars Foundation to assist First Nations young women in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria, so that they remain engaged at school, complete their final year and transition into an independent future.


• We partner with The Skyline Foundation in Victoria to support female students for their last two years of secondary school

Also, through our M-Power Mentoring Program, we partner with leading institutions to advance the careers of extraordinary women in under-represented industries, such as STEM, social enterprise, filmmaking and the arts.

We are so proud and excited to be supporting these initiatives as we build towards achieving our collective goal of a more equitable society both in Australia and globally.

We’re always interested in hearing about other opportunities within our industry that can help support diversity and inclusion, so send your suggestions to: m-power@mecca.com.au.