XChange Australia 2026: Channel leaders call for broader inclusion beyond gender diversity

“It’s no longer just about diversity in the workplace but inclusion as well.”

While the channel ecosystem remains a predominantly male dominated industry, there is now a greater call for diversity and inclusivity in the channel with more female representation at these organisations.

At the recent XChange Australia in Sydney, there were more than 70 partners from the channel ecosystem in the ANZ region. About 25 percent of these attendees were female executives and leaders in the channel community.

“It’s all about looking at what outcomes are achieved from getting diversity in your organisation. It's looking at your priorities, the promotions and the opportunities available to the diverse workforce. It's also looking at who's in the room when decisions are being made,” said Lisa Fortey, general manager at Logicalis Australia.

[READ MORE: 5 things we learnt at XChange Australia 2026]

Fortey was part of a panel discussion moderated by Athina Mallis, editor at CRN Australia.

The panel also featured Xara Tran, founder and CEO of Champions of Change. Both panellists acknowledged that while the growing number represented a positive outlook for diversity and inclusivity in the channel ecosystem, there is still a lot more than can be done.

For Tran, it’s no longer just about diversity in the workplace but inclusion as well. She believes that diversity should include inclusion of those with mental illness as well as having deep conversations about neurodivergence.

“In our industry in particular, with the skills that we have, we are predominant in those fields. I always think about empathy in a human level, where it relates to both men and women. And it's a global conversation. When you do that, you can create an amazing culture in the companies that you run, or even having a ripple effect on what you do,” she said.

At the same time, with the initiatives around AI coming into the industry, Fortey believes there is an opportunity for leaders to offer more part-time work for females who are returning from having children.

“That's probably one of the hardest things about getting females back into the industry. There's a great opportunity for us to capture, keep building the culture and make sure that our male allies are involved in building the culture. And some of the responsible business initiatives in the organisation are the elements that can create a diverse and inclusive workforce,” she said.

For Tran, when organisations they talk to their teams, if there are common themes, there needs to be empathy and to be able to build some improvement metrics. For example, Tran pointed out that if an organisations has a common denominator like 20 percent of its workforce are people who are neurodivergent or 10 percent are currently depressed and need support, they need to have a plan for them so that they are not just safe in the workplace and enjoying themselves, but will also extend their ability to stay with organisation.

“Because if you don't address those things, then you find that the workplace culture is impacted heavily. If you were to do that and then have a plan for them, then they will actually come and thank you later because you've been able to see them and meet them where they are,” she said.

Culture and synergy in the workforce

Culture and synergy need to go hand in hand as Tran believes organisations can’t have one without the other. She believes that if an organisation has a tight culture, people will believe in the strategy which in turn will be beneficial for growth of the business.

“We all want to be profitable. When you have a really diverse workforce, the culture can be so much better because there's a lot of understanding across the organisation. There is an appreciation for where different people came from, their different walks of life, and a little bit more. This has to come from the top down. It might be something that is a bottom-up type of initiative,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fortey believes the reason why there are more women in the industry now is because their male peers have given them the opportunity and were able to see them as a person.

“If you look at the room today, women have shown up. And it's in no doubt because of a partnership between us as humans. I always like to have a dialogue. It's not just about women. It's about human and inhuman and focusing on things that we can all relate to, such as neurodivergence,” she said.

“These are real things in addition to things like PTSD and depression. This is one of the toughest industries in the world. And when you talk to your technical team and your management team, they work really hard. They work long hours. They have war stories of their own.

“We make better strides if we were to focus in that direction than to just talk about it from a gender perspective,” she concluded.

XChange Australia was held on September 16, 2026 at the Intercontinental Sydney. Learn more about the day here.