Vice-Chancellor S Bruce Dowton acknowledges the proactive approach Macquarie has made towards LGBTIQ+ inclusion and the engagement of our Ally Network, which has led to the University being awarded Silver tier employer status at the 2018 AWEI Awards.
I’m delighted to announce that Macquarie University has been recognised as a Silver tier employer in the Australian Workplace Equality Index Awards, which celebrates and acknowledges our progress towards inclusion and equality for people with diverse sexualities and gender identities within the Macquarie University community. We are very proud to receive this title, having jumped up two levels from the previous year’s benchmarking.
We have received Silver status due to our proactive approach to LGBTIQ+ inclusion, and in particular the engagement and activity of our Ally Network; a group of more than 140 staff and students visibly supporting LGBTIQ+ people within our community and advocating for positive growth and change within the University. You may have witnessed or have been involved with the tangible efforts of our Ally Network over the past year, including celebrations on campus to mark days of significance such as IDAHOBIT, the successful campaign for marriage equality in Australia, or perhaps you’ve seen some changes in our policies and services that positively affect LGBTIQ+ staff, for example in our parental leave policy, and our staff benefits offerings. I would personally like to thank our Macquarie University Allies for all of their work, advocacy and commitment.
In the past year we have also launched a new resource; Supporting Trans Employees at Macquarie University: A guide for staff and managers. It is designed to help staff who wish to affirm their gender, navigate the University system, and access the support they need before, during and after gender affirmation processes. It also includes valuable information and resources for managers and colleagues of trans staff. This guideline, along with many other LGBTIQ+ inclusive staff benefits and resources can be found on the University’s Sexual and Gender Diversity webpage.
Each year Macquarie makes a submission for the AWEI Awards in order to benchmark ourselves against organisations nationally in LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion. The AWEI is an initiative of Pride In Diversity, Australia’s only not-for-profit employer support organisation for LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion, and is completed annually by more than 130 businesses and universities across the country. Workplaces are judged on a range of criteria including inclusive policies and practices, executive engagement, inclusive facilities and services, employee networks and external visibility. We are now one of only three universities awarded Silver status, while a further eight universities were successful in achieving Bronze.
For more information on LGBTIQ+ inclusion, and information on how to join out Ally network, please visit the Workplace Diversity & Inclusion webpage, or contact the team Workplace Diversity & Inclusion Team. Upcoming Ally Network training schedules can be found on the Ally Network webpage.
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It is wonderful to see that there are changes in the treatment and recognition of the LGBT+ community, not only at Macquarie University, but also Australia wide. However, it is quite disturbing to read this article, and to know that the efforts of the Macquarie University Queer Collective, in particular the President – Charlie – have been completely overlooked when it comes to their contribution in creating initiatives for queer inclusion on campus. One major example that is very upsetting, is where the organsiation and success of IDAHOBIT is attributed entirely to the Ally Network, when in fact, it was organised by the Queer Collective President – an actual queer person. The Ally Network may have supported the event by attending, but they had no role in organisation. This page highlights that there are still many unresolved issues at MQ, in particular, talking about the queer community rather than with them, not acknowledging the role of queer people in fighting for and achieving queer rights, and in presenting non-LGBT+ identities as ‘saviours of the oppressed’, a complex that is also seen across race, class, and gender, etc. On behalf of queer identies on campus, and at least for the sake of to living up to what this award represents, please do better.
Hi there,
Thank you for your insights and feedback on this article.
You’re absolutely right – Charlie is FANTASTIC and such a wonderful leader for the Queer Collective who worked tirelessly on organising such a terrific event for IDAHOBIT this year. The Ally Network were involved in more of a supporting role behind the scenes in regard to helping with marketing to the staff cohort and being present on the day to help with the cake stall.
Charlie and the convener of the Ally Network have been working together lately to find opportunities for the two groups to work together more in future, with the Allies taking the lead from the Queer Collective.
There are many members of the Ally Network who identify as LGBTIQ+ as well as their straight allies – although it can be a misconception that because it is an ‘Ally’ network that it only includes people who do not identify as part of the LGBTIQ+ communities.
Apologies for any hurt caused by not mentioning the Queer Collective in this article. If you’d like to talk further please contact workplacediversityinclusion@mq.edu.au