New research from Dive In, the global festival for diversity and inclusion in insurance that launched today, shows the vast majority of participants believe COVID-19 has shown a “greater need” for action.

The survey was conducted from more than 12,000 registered attendees across more than 30 countries in the run up to this year’s festival, taking place virtually until Thursday.

Some 97% of respondents agree that diversity and inclusion plays a crucial role in building resilience to help overcome the many challenges businesses face. And 92% agree that the pandemic has highlighted “an even greater need for business to focus on building inclusive workplaces”.

A regional breakdown of results shows that in Australia and New Zealand the top four issues that respondents believe the insurance industry must focus on are mental health (61%), flexible working (45%), gender equality (35%) and age equality and multi-generational working (26%).

Culture and ethnicity topped the list in the US and Canada (63%) and the UK (58%).

Dive In, which is supported by insuranceNEWS.com.au, is now one of the largest festivals for diversity and inclusion in the world.

“The research is clear. D&I is not just good for business, it’s essential,” Jason Groves, Chair of the Dive In Committee and Global Director of Media Relations at Marsh, said.

“Now, more than ever, D&I has to be integral to an organisation’s business strategy.”

More than 7500 registrations have been received for Australia and New Zealand events, which kicked off today with 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty speaking on domestic violence, and 2014 Australian of the Year and former AFL player Adam Goodes on Indigenous inclusion.

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