For years, we’ve been hearing about how the Australian fashion industry has changed. How it’s increasingly embracing diversity, in magazine shoots and on the runway. 

But behind the scenes, black models paint a very different picture. They say they’re paid less than their white counterparts. That they’re subject to prejudice and disrespect. 

Which is why, this week, more than a dozen local models are boycotting Melbourne Fashion Week. They’re fed up with the treatment they receive that, says one model, wouldn’t be allowed in London, New York or Paris.

Today, journalist Antoinette Latouff, author of the book, How To Lose Friends and Influence White People, on what goes on behind the scenes for black models in Australia.