AWEI Submission FAQs

The Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) Submission is a tool for organisations to audit and benchmark their LGBTQ workplace-inclusion initiatives. It follows a 3-yearly cycle of local criteria review and international benchmarking. Upon review, new criteria are set with the intention of advancing LGBTQ workplace inclusion practice within Australia and aligning it with any new work being done internationally to ensure that Australian organisations continue to meet global standards of best practice. Therefore, we would expect to see the criteria become more challenging with each new iteration, which may lead to organisations dropping tiers if their inclusion work is not advancing at the same pace. Within each new iteration, there is an expectation that organisations will improve their performance, and their scores will increase. Some organisations will fulfill all the criteria by the end of the 3-year cycle, and so it will be time to review again. It is important to note that the journey to maintain leading practice is not a 6-month journey; it’s a 3-year journey.

For the fifth iteration, the methodology of determining recognition for Bronze, Silver and Gold tier entry levels has changed. In previous iterations, entry points to each of these tiers in previous iterations have been determined by ranking the scores of all participating organisations and calculating the top 10%, 20% etc. This meant that, as practices improved or shifted, the entry points would change from year to year.

 

Starting with the 5^th iteration of the AWEI, we will be introducing fixed entry points for each of the tiers making it easier for an organisation to estimate what tier recognition they may achieve.

To achieve Bronze Tier Status within the AWEI Foundation Submission, participating organisations must obtain 80% of available points.

• For Small Employers (500 or less employees), this is 40/50.
• For Standard Employers (501 or more employees), 64/80.

To achieve Silver Tier Status within the AWEI Advanced Submission, participating organisations must obtain 60% of available points.

• For Small Employers (500 or less employees), this is 30/50.
• For Standard Employers (501 or more employees, this is 72/120.

To achieve Gold Tier Status within the AWEI Advanced Submission, participating organisations must obtain 85% of available points.

• For Small Employers (500 or less employees), this is 42/50.
• For Standard Employers (501 or more employees), this is 102/120.

Pride in Diversity member organisations can now:

• submit their AWEI Foundation Submission in effort to obtain Bronze Tier Status at any time between 1^st June and 30^th November, as well as the annual submission period of mid-January to end-February
• submit their AWEI Advanced Submission during the annual submission period, mid-January to end-February, annually

Non-member organisations may submit within any AWEI submission period (mid-January to end-February, annually).  Should non-members require fast track marking of their Foundation Submission, this is available on a fee-for-service basis.  Please contact our office for more details.

AWEI Foundation Submission covers a baseline of LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts across a workplace.

AWEI Advanced Submission covers further LGBTQ+ inclusion work that organisations frequently progress towards, including leading practice standards. It also covers work undertaken on an annual basis.

The AWEI is comprised of the following areas throughout:

• HR Policy and Diversity Practice– this is to ensure that all policies are clearly inclusive of LGBTQ+ people
• LGBTQ+ Bullying, Harassment & Support– to assist in reducing heightened levels of targeted bullying & harassment that LGBTQ+ people face
• Inclusion of Trans & Gender Diverse Employees– an area that typically does not have the same level of awareness and/or support but one that is becoming critical for employers as more people openly identify with a diverse gender at work
• Strategic Focus & Accountability –to show that you have targeted initiatives or plans in place to support LGBTQ+ inclusion on an ongoing basis
• LGBTQ+ Employee Networks; Visibility of Inclusion; and LGBTQ+ Training, Awareness and Professional Development– areas that contribute significantly to an LGBTQ inclusive culture
• Executive Leadership & Engagement– culture is led from the top and Senior Executive support for D&I speaks volumes to employees
• Data Analysis– which provides valuable information about the impact of your inclusion initiatives, highlighting where focus needs to be channelled or celebrated
• Community Engagement– which sends a significant message of inclusion to those outside of your organisation
• Survey Participation– optional participation within the annual AWEI Employee Survey
• Additional Work– any workplace-related LGBTQ+ inclusion work accomplished, not covered elsewhere within this submission

You must complete the AWEI Submission Expression of Interest Form

Information regarding how to complete the AWEI Submission can be found within the submission form and supporting materials.

Participation in the AWEI Submission process is exclusively available to all Pride in Diversity members as part of our membership benefits.

An ‘Index+ Participation‘ membership tier, has been designed for organisations who only wish to participate in the AWEI Submission process, Employee Survey, or both. This membership tier will also give organisations access to some online, member-only publications, resources, factsheets, video library, and a LGBTQ+ inclusion eLearning module.

Please contact our office for more details.

Your Foundation Submission will be marked first. If you do not achieve Bronze Tier Status within this part of the AWEI, your Advanced Submission will not be marked. You will not have the opportunity to redo and resubmit the Foundation Submission until June. Therefore, you forfeit the opportunity to have your Advanced Submission evaluated until the following year. We encourage all organisations to submit their Foundation Submissions prior to end-November, to be assured of securing Bronze Tier status prior to submitting their Advanced Submission.

Absolutely!

Pride in Diversity members have access to their Relationship Manager throughout the year, as part of their membership benefits.

All participants and registrants will have access to:

• AWEI Collaboration Worksheets – for use of internal collaboration across your organisation
• AWEI Supporting materials, resources and guidelines
• Support videos through public access in Pride in Diversity’s Vimeo library
• General support and advice through awei@acon.org.au

If you obtain Bronze Tier Recognition based on the results of your AWEI Foundational Submission, you may opt to either:

• Complete an AWEI Advanced Submission in effort to obtain Silver of Gold Tier Recognition
• Maintain your Bronze status throughout the remainder of this iteration (until 2029)

Scores from historical AWEI submissions do not carry over as we enter a new iteration.

Within the current (5^th and 6^th ) iterations, if you obtain Bronze Tier Status within the Foundation Submission, you may maintain this throughout this iteration 2023 – 2029.

If you opt to then complete an Advanced Submission to obtain Silver or Gold Tier Status, this will need to be submitted annually.

If you don’t achieve Bronze Tier Recognition based on the results of your AWEI Foundation Submission, the following options are available:

• If you submit between 1 June to 1 December: you may resubmit at any time following receiving your results, prior to end-November.
• If you submit during the annual marking period between January – February: you will receive your results along with all other participants at the annual Australian LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards in May. You may resubmit from June onwards.

After qualifying for Platinum Tier, you may choose to continue participating in the AWEI Submission process by either scoping and completing a Platinum Project, or completing an AWEI Submission (and achieving Gold).