News

July 11, 2025 | IN Together Magazine | BY AVID | 4 min read 

As the General Manager of People and Culture at AVID, Colette O’Reilly’s job is all about working with the Leadership Team towards building a culture where teams can perform well, work inclusively together, and importantly have a voice in delivering AVID’s vision of homes and addresses where people love to belong. 

“We have taken a top-down approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to ensure our people practices support AVID’s objectives and accommodate our ever-evolving customer base. 

“We’ve been lucky to be named an accredited ‘inclusive employer’ by Diversity Council Australia and be recognised with an Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion by the Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW in 2024 but our work in this space is far from over,” Colette said. 

As a small to medium business with 143 team members nationally, AVID is highly diverse for this relatively small pool. 30% of the team were born overseas and 21% come from a primarily non-English speaking background. Female representation is particularly high in the executive and people management teams and over 20% of employees are either under 30 or over 54. 

“This fantastic and evolving mix of talent plays a crucial role in the development of a new project. When we are getting started on a new community, we invite team members from a range of departments to the table to bring the benefits of different ideas, backgrounds, perspectives, and insights into how we should approach the delivery of that community. 

“Because of this initiative we are more reflective of the communities in which we operate, whether it be a Vantage address for the over 55s or our Carolina community which has predominantly first home buyers. 

“We are more in tune to the contexts and sensitivities specific to certain groups and through this pool of knowledge we can widen our reach and relatability to varying ages, nationalities, genders, and cultures.” 

When looking at the internal initiatives across AVID offices, it’s not hard to spot parallels between them and AVID’s community development programs. 

For example, AVID offer their staff ‘wellbeing credits’ to spend on hobbies and fitness activities that interest them, whether that be Pilates or art classes. Across their communities, AVID holds a range of similar ‘wellbeing’ programs from free fitness classes and bootcamps to gardening workshops and men sheds. 

“It’s all about creating inclusive neighbourhoods where everyone feels like they belong,” said AVID’s Community Development Officer Sarah Tebbutt, who has been involved in bringing the company’s internal DEI practices out into AVID neighbourhoods. 

“It’s interesting to see the parallels between what we are doing within the AVID team and then with our residents. We design our community initiatives for the demographics in those neighbourhoods, so it’s always about celebrating their unique interests.” 

In 2024 alone, AVID held numerous Easter, Christmas, Diwali, Neighbour Day, and other events across its communities.  

“It isn’t just about focusing in on the needs of one group, it’s about creating initiatives where people can connect, get to know their neighbours, and find common interests,” Sarah explained.  

Colette is eager to maintain momentum in the DEI space moving forward, with a particular focus on equity. 

“For the first time we have 5 generations in the workplace. This presents some challenges, but it offers enormous opportunity to leverage the unique perspectives and experiences of different generations particularly when problem solving and supporting learning and growth.” 

Looking beyond AVID, Colette would like to see greater focus on improving equity outcomes for children from disadvantaged groups in terms of educational outcomes. Stronger investment in public and vocational education could support this together with a shift away from thinking that university is the only pathway. Intentional design of programs offered via our vocational institutions for example could position us to provide young people with skills and competencies that will be both required and in demand into the future.   

Visit the AVID website to learn more about AVID’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity.