Platinum Project

The trans and gender diverse (TGD) initiative was undertaken to determine workforce data gaps that measured the experience of TGD employees.  It was determined that this cohort’s workplace experience was not captured in current data sets.  An opportunity to deepen the department’s understanding of the TGD employee workplace experience was identified for investigation.

It responded to Working for Queensland (WfQ) survey findings that measured feelings of inclusion for gender diverse employees. The initiative supported continuous efforts to improve staff diversity and inclusion to ensure the workforce represents the students, families and communities it serves.

Data was gathered through stories, which provided insights to inform updates to just-in-time LGBTQ+ inclusion resources for managers, Human Resource practitioners, and staff. These resources will also be beneficial to attracting and retaining TGD employees.

The initiative delivered an executive report to comprehensively assess the department’s current state of inclusion, safety and visibility for TGD employees across the employee lifecycle.  The report provided recommendations to assist the organisation in growing its maturity to inclusive workforce practice.

The initiative aimed to promote respectful and inclusive workplaces for all employees, to ensure the Department met its legislative obligations, including the Queensland Public Sector Act 2023, the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld), the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld), Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth).

t the EY organisation, we believe that inclusiveness for everyone is fundamental to our people, our business and the communities we serve. Our Allyship Matters Platinum Project aimed to strengthen LGBTQ+ inclusion by focusing on leadership visibility, authentic allyship and innovative approaches to understanding workplace culture. With nearly 9,000 employees across Australia and New Zealand, we recognise that visible, consistent support from leaders is essential to fostering a sense of belonging for all.

Project approach

We combined quantitative and qualitative methods: a 500‑response Allyship Matters survey, weighted to reflect workforce composition; open-text insights; targeted interviews; and a working group with lived experience. To deepen our understanding, we deployed an AI agent to collect anonymous open-text responses.

The analysis compares perspectives across ranks and cohorts to understand the factors that drive psychological safety and a sense of belonging.

What we learned

• Connection over symbolism: Employees value leaders who engage meaningfully by attending LGBTQ+ events, sharing personal stories and fostering open dialogue. Visible symbols (such as lanyards and pronouns) are most effective when voluntary and supported by genuine action.
• Bridging the perception gap: While most leaders believe they are actively promoting inclusion, fewer junior employees agree. This highlights the need for leaders to move beyond one-off gestures and embed allyship into everyday practice.
• Barriers to allyship: The most common challenges were uncertainty about how to be an ally, time constraints, and fear of ‘getting it wrong’, underscoring the importance of practical guidance and safe forums for learning.
• Leadership visibility drives outcomes: Our Canberra office emerged as a case study in LGBTQ+ belonging at work, where high leadership visibility, active participation in LGBTQ+ inclusion events, and consistent communication correlated with stronger inclusion metrics and greater confidence to challenge discrimination.

What we delivered

Our findings informed a set of clear recommendations for leaders, which formed the refreshed LGBTQ+ Allyship Toolkit. The toolkit, launched internally and promoted through multiple channels, equips leaders with practical resources to drive meaningful change. Its impact will be measured through ongoing AWEI results and engagement analytics.

We also developed an external report to share what we learnt through our Platinum Project. This report also offers a practical pathway that other organisations can adopt: Signals → Engagement → Safety → Belonging. Read the report here.

MinterEllison is committed to ensuring everyone is represented, respected and
empowered to make a difference. As an Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI)
Platinum Employer, we are pleased to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to LGBTQ+
inclusion through meaningful action and community engagement.

The ME Queer Hub is MinterEllison’s dedicated pro bono initiative connecting LGBTQ+
community organisations with skilled MinterEllison employees – both LGBTQ+
identifying and informed allies. The ME Queer Hub provides accessible, sustainable
pathways for delivering meaningful support to community legal centres, social
enterprises and advocacy organisations across Australia.
The ME Queer Hub delivers a comprehensive range of pro bono legal services,
operational support and professional services tailored to the needs of LGBTQ+
organisations. Our expertise spans employment law, privacy, corporate structuring and
tax, governance, commercial contracts, process improvement, communication,
marketing, coaching and board development.

The ME Queer Hub was co-designed with community partners to ensure our solutions are practical, accessible and responsive to real-world needs. We work collaboratively with community legal centres and LGBTQ+ organisations to understand their priorities and deliver tailored support.

Overview
In 2025, PwC Australia created and delivered the Rainbow Immersion Project, a bold initiative to reshape LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion. Through listening sessions led by senior leaders, the project focused on creating psychologically safe environments for LGBTIQ+ staff, promoting allyship and addressing intersectionality. The goal of the project was to help LGBTIQ+ employees feel more comfortable being open about their identities at work, build senior leaders’ confidence in leading inclusion conversations and shift leaders from passive supporters to visible, active allies.

Project Engagement
The Rainbow Immersion Project engaged employees through approximately 250 touchpoints, including two firm-wide surveys, five in-person listening sessions and a series of interactive virtual discussions. Senior leaders facilitated each session, reinforcing the importance of inclusive leadership practices and encouraging participation from both LGBTIQ+ employees and allies. Adding a powerful creative dimension, First Nations artist Wayde Clarke/Alejandro Lauren captured insights from the sessions in a large-format artwork. Unveiled in late 2025, the piece reflects the project’s emotional impact and cultural depth.

Results and Measures
As part of the project, pre- and post-listening session surveys were conducted to measure impact. Results showed:
• Comfort with being “out” at work among LGBTIQ+ employees increased by 5 percentage points.
• Senior leaders’ confidence in leading inclusion conversations rose by 11 percentage points.
• Recognition of the importance of visible LGBTIQ+ inclusion symbols grew by 15 percentage points.
• Ally participation in inclusion initiatives expanded by 19 percentage points.

Future Direction and Conclusion
Insights from the Rainbow Immersion Project identified several emerging recommendations, including more visible leadership support, a continued focus on psychological safety, and the introduction of an “Ally Academy” to provide structured education and support on how to be active, visible allies. Together, these recommendations reflect PwC’s commitment to building on the project’s success and strengthening workplace inclusion.
PwC Australia remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering a workplace where LGBTIQ+ employees feel empowered and valued. By combining meaningful dialogue with artistic expression, the Rainbow Immersion Project has enriched the firm’s culture and set a benchmark for lasting inclusion.

This repository is the result of an RMIT research project which was proudly sponsored by the City of Melbourne.We started this journey for two reasons:
Firstly, we noted that some LGBTIQA+ community members from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) struggled to express themselves using their own language within their own culture.
These struggles arise not only because there can be an aversion to discussing identity issues in their respective cultural contexts, but also because there is a lack of a fully developed lexicon which crosses all linguistic borders. An inability to express oneself can have a serious impact on an individual’s sense of belonging and social participation.
Secondly, we found that translating and interpreting practitioners lacked a well-established LGBTIQA+ glossary for their language pair that they could consult when they came across the relevant topics in the course of their work.

Overview

The LGBTQIA+ Digital Resource Hub (the ‘Hub’) is a publicly open platform aiming to serve as a one-stop shop for staff, students and the UNSW community, offering a range of resources on LGBTQIA+ inclusion. The Hub will promote subject matter expertise on LGBTQIA+ inclusion across the University, providing resources for students and staff (both professional and academic). This will include content such as annotated bibliographies and academic articles, alongside openly available, easily consumable and accessible resources e.g., animations, infographics, worksheets.

A pilot of the Hub will run in 2025, after which the project (and platform) will continue to develop and evolve over time. For the life cycle of the Platinum Project, UNSW aims to create the foundations of the Hub, resulting in a minimum viable product by the end of 2025. The final related report will be submitted to Pride in Diversity by February 2026. The report will include measurable performance indicators focusing on quality and quantity of information, community consultation and feedback, and accessibility. Moving forward, the Hub will be assessed internally based on additional evaluation measures on number of users, academic use, etc.

Objectives

• Improving user experience of and accessibility to content on LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
• Enhancing visibility of the LGBTQIA+ communities, with a focus on in-depth exploration of the nuances portrayed in academic research at UNSW.
• Providing students and staff with a user-friendly, one-stop shop for accessible resources on LGBTQIA+ communities and inclusion.

Key Outputs

• LGBTQIA+ Digital Resource Hub including:
  • Academic content
  • Accessible, easily consumable content for LGBTQIA+ staff, students, and allies
• Collation and review of existing resources into streamlined digital hub, alongside new resources.
• Evaluation report on project outcomes

Key Areas

• LGBTQIA+ academic research
• Accessibility of LGBTQIA+ content and information
• LGBTQIA+ visibility

Employee Impact

• The hub will serve as a main waterhole for LGBTQIA+ researchers to cross pollinate with other researchers inside and outside the university, which will uplift LGBTQIA+ research across Australia.
• The hub will function as a main go to resource for lecturers and university staff dealing with any LGBTQIA+ related issues and concerns coming from students and staff.
• Being public, the hub will serve as a constant reminder to UNSW’s values and approach to inclusion and will foster a sense of belonging and pride within LGBTQIA+ staff and students.

Opportunities

• Creating a continuously evolving resource to support LGBTQIA+ related research at UNSW and uplifting leading practice in LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
• Targeting the full spectrum of identities and nuances within the LGBTQIA+ communities.
• Increasing LGBTQIA+ students and staff sense of belonging.
• Publicly available resource, branding UNSW as a leader in LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

Background

“Respect for the individual” is one of Accenture’s core values. It allows our 800,000 people around the world to bring their authentic selves to work every day, enabling them to thrive and develop new ideas and solutions that create positive change for our clients.

At its core, Accenture is a people business. All 800,000 of our current people started their journey with Accenture through our recruitment and onboarding process. This is a critical time for potential joiners as they weigh up Accenture, against other options, in a competitive job market.

This year for our AWEI submission we decided to undertake a project with the objective of reviewing the existing end-to-end recruitment and onboarding employee experience to identify and address areas for improvement for increasing Pride workplace inclusion for potential candidates and new joiners within their first year. The aim was to ensure that the way Accenture interacts with LGBTIQ+ employees or potential applicants is reflective of leading practice and inclusive of all identities within the LGBTIQ+ spectrum. This goes to the core of our recruitment process, weaving in our commitment to equal opportunity and a workplace free from bias.

Approach

Our approach consisted of three main stages:

1. Develop an Employee Experience Map for Recruitment and Onboarding to improve inclusion in recruitment campaigns, the interviewing and hiring process and new joiner orientation.

1. Measure Accenture’s recruitment and onboarding experience against leading practice through interviews, content analysis and survey results.

1. Develop an action plan capturing actions, steps and responsibilities required to address areas for improvement identified in the Employee Experience Map.

 Our findings

Overall, we found that Accenture’s recruitment experience predominantly meets LGBTIQ+ inclusion recruitment experience leading practice, but we also identified key areas for improvement. While some of these are quick wins, others will take time to implement. We have developed a 12-month action plan that addresses both immediate and longer-term improvements, to be delivered in partnership with our HR and Recruitment teams. Additionally, since many of the findings are also relevant to other Inclusion & Diversity pillars, the Pride team are also working with these groups to help realise benefits for all in the recruitment and onboarding experience.

At Deloitte, we’re removing barriers, so everyone grows.

Overview

As an AWEI Platinum Employer, we embarked on a two-year Platinum Project focused on enhancing the experiences of trans employees, including those who are binary, non-binary, gender diverse, or questioning.

Through this project, we set out to:

• Listen to and understand the experiences of trans and gender-diverse people in organisations across Australia.
• Improve the employee journey for trans and gender-diverse individuals at Deloitte.
• Share insights with other organisations to enhance trans inclusion.
• Help create more inclusive and supportive workplaces everywhere.

We also brought together trans individuals and DEI professionals from different organisations to build a community dedicated to advancing trans inclusion, with the hope that it will continue to grow and connect after the project ends.

Our journey

We took a listening and consultative approach to developing our Deloitte Action Plan and ‘Building Trans Inclusive Workplaces’ Report:

1. Employee listening: We used qualitative and quantitative data to understand lived experiences, leveraging survey insights and conducting interviews with trans and gender diverse employees and their Coaches.
2. Global landscape: We engaged with DEI professionals and trans and gender diverse employees across the Deloitte global network to understand how experiences are varied across different countries.
3. External consultation: We conducted focus groups with Pride in Diversity and other leading organisations to understand their perspectives, journeys, and best practice.
4. Action plan: We developed three ‘Moments that matter’ – moments that are key to creating a safe and inclusive experience for trans and gender diverse employees. We also used our insights and research to design and begin implementing our Trans Inclusion Action Plan aligned to these moments.
5. Report: We used the insights to develop our ‘Building Trans Inclusive Workplaces’ Report and launched this through an external event and internal and external communications campaign.

Key achievements

• Engaged extensively with internal and external stakeholders, especially during the consultation phase.
• Created a Deloitte gender affirmation policy and guidelines and doubled our gender affirmation leave entitlement as part of our Trans Inclusion Action Plan.
• Developed and launched our ‘Building Trans Inclusive Workplaces’ Report and received strong engagement and positive feedback with the report, external events, and communications campaign.
• Feedback from our people (both through our annual pulse survey and informal feedback channels) has shown improved sentiment in relation to our inclusive culture.

Explore our report to see how your organisation can contribute to creating a more inclusive and supportive workplace for everyone.

At NAB, we want to be the most customer-centric company in Australia and New Zealand, we want to support our customers, and their customers too. We know that when it comes to inclusion, getting it right matters.

That’s why our Platinum project is focused on providing our customers with resources to support their LGBTQIA+ employees, customers, clients, and patients.

According to the Australian Small business Ombudsman, 2023, 98% of businesses in Australia are classified as small-to-medium. Of these, 87.6% have 1 – 4 staff members and 10% have between 5 – 199 staff members.

Most of these companies, practices or businesses aim to create an environment that is welcoming and inclusive for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) employees, customers, clients, and patients. Yet, with small numbers of staff and limited resources, some of these small-to-medium businesses may not have the capabilities or time to provide the level of inclusive and nuanced services a larger organisation like NAB can.

Introducing Nab Pride’s Platinum Project: More out and proud

Our More out and Proud resources round out our Inclusive Banking offering for Colleagues and Customers. They were developed over the course of 2023 and 2024 in consultation with NAB customers, bankers and I&D Professionals. All the content was reviewed and endorsed by NABs legal team, executive sponsors and NAB Pride.

The More out and Proud resources can be viewed, downloaded, and used by customers within their
own businesses/organisations. These include:

• Glossary of terminology
• Inclusive behaviours
• LGBTQIA inclusive language guide
• LGBTQIA+ days of significance calendar
• LGBTQIA+ ally guide
• The business case for LGBTQIA Inclusion
• Inclusive recruitment guide
• Guide for establishing an ERG

We’re proud to have been the major sponsor of Midsumma for 12 Years and so what better place to launch these resources than at the 2025 Midsumma Carnival? We developed a flyer (see image) to share with members of the community to view the page in their own time, as well as having Inclusive Bankers on hand to connect with customers and answer any questions.

At the time of submission (in the two months since launch), the resources have reached 250 downloads. We look forward to continuing to create and refresh these resources based on customer feedback and best practice.

QBE recognises that while organisations have made strides in implementing practices and policies aimed at fostering an inclusive culture, we recognise that there is still more we can do to foster a neuro-inclusive workplace.

Neurodivergent people offer a wealth of unique skill sets, thinking patterns, talents, and strengths, enriching our organisation in immeasurable ways. Embracing neurodiversity is not only the right thing to do, but it also makes business sense.

In collaboration with QBE employees and external experts, we’ve developed a guide to neurodiversity, aimed at increasing awareness and highlighting available support pathways. This includes practical tips by creating an environment where everyone can thrive, feel a sense of belonging, respect and valued for their contributions.

As a recognised Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) platinum employer, we’re always looking for ways to strengthen our inclusion initiatives, continuing to raise awareness and educate leaders and employees alike, on the importance of LGBTIQ+ inclusion.

Emerging research suggests that more can be done to support those with the intersecting identities of neurodivergence in the LGBTIQ+ community. Building on the neurodiversity guide and to bring this topic to life, QBE Pride are proud to present the Not Atypical podcast series. We’ll hear from leading industry voices and QBE employees as they share insights and their lived experience, unpacking some of the challenges and assumptions faced by neurodivergent people who are also part of the LGBTIQ+ community.

QBE Linked In post: Not Atypical Podcast launch

Shine is AGL’s LGBTQ+ inclusion network that was established in 2014. AGL has participated in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) since 2015​. In 2021 AGL was awarded Platinum Qualifier at the Australian LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards and committed to undertaking a platinum project to make our gender diverse customers feel welcome, safe and included.

AGL recognises that LGBTQ+ initiatives must be inclusive of people of all genders and gender identities and that an opportunity needed to be addressed in the electricity industry. We put a spotlight on customers who use a preferred name, identify outside of the gender binary, or simply choose to identify using a non-gendered title. We discovered an outdated electricity industry standard that was not inclusive of the Australian community of which it serves, specifically, customers who use Mx as their preferred title.

With the power of our Executive Sponsor, we campaigned to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), to change the industry standard and allow Mx as a title option so that we are inclusive of customers who were being excluded. Sponsorship was critical to success so that we were heard at the executive level. AEMO agreed to change the industry code and set a go live date of November 2022. With the external change coming, it was time to focus our attention internally and lead the changes required in readiness for go live.

Using a human centred design project methodology, we ideated and consulted internally with the Shine network, Customer Operations teams, Dispute Resolution teams, Process Owners, and externally to the Market Operator and Distributors to gain a better understanding of the customer experience, barriers, and opportunities from a systems, people and process perspective. This enabled us to find root causes and compile a list of improvements to enhance customer experience and deliver on our project’s purpose: to make our gender diverse customers feel welcome, safe and included.

Deliverables

 Implement system changes to add ‘Mx’ in line with new industry changes

• Implement system changes to display a ‘preferred first name’
• Update customer service collateral to remove gendered language
• Support customer service with resources and education on gender diversity

Project Outcomes

 We successfully added Mx to our systems with over 230 customers using this title

• We successfully added a ‘preferred first name’ field to our systems
• We trained over 450 people across customer operations and service teams on gender diversity, and the use of preferred first names.
• We engaged with our third party sales channels and encouraged them to update their systems by adding Mx if they did not already have Mx as an option for customers
• We reduced the number of mis-gendering complaints received by our Dispute Resolution Teams

At Woolworths Group, we are committed to creating better experiences together for a better tomorrow. This commitment is deeply rooted in our foundation and is reflected in our ongoing efforts to support and celebrate our diverse teams and communities.

In 2016, the Proud at Woolworths Group network and committee was established by passionate team members within the organisation. Representing over 200,000 employees and communities across Australia, the Proud at Woolworths Group committee established a mission: to foster a safer, more inclusive workplace for LGBTQ+ team members and the communities they serve.

In 2021, we embarked on our journey to deliver a Platinum Project aimed at enhancing the safety and inclusion of LGBTQ+ People in Greater Western Sydney. This project brought together a diverse range of internal and external partners, community LGBTQ+ organisations, and the local council to bring the project to life.

Platinum Project:

Our Platinum Project, ‘Painting Parramatta with Pride’, drew inspiration from  the research and recommendations presented in the ‘Advancing LGBTQ+ Safety and Inclusion in Greater Western Sydney’ report from Western Sydney University and ACON. The report’s objectives were to increase LGBTQ+ Inclusion internally and externally in the Parramatta LGA.

Focusing on key recommendations from the report, we concentrated our Platinum Project on three core objectives:

• Working with specific LGBTQ+ groups in Greater Western Sydney
• Focusing on increasing LGBTQ+ Safety in Greater Western Sydney
• Influencing Decision Makers to foster LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Greater Western Sydney

Our project plan outlined key milestones and initiatives, with eight success measures to gauge progress–our measures focused internally and four externally. This ensured that we remained accountable to our goals and could effectively track our impact on the community.

Internal initiatives

• Implementation of the Welcome Here Project across Woolworths Supermarkets and Customer Fulfilment Centres, creating a visual charter to represent our stores as inclusive environments for both our employees and customers.
• Provision of immersive education sessions for the NSW/ACT State and local Parramatta leadership teams, fostering a deeper understanding of LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
• Implementing inclusive gender identities into our People Systems
• Bringing to life a ‘Painting Parramatta with Pride’ LGBTQ+ podcast series, offering a platform for sharing experiences and deepening the understanding of LGBTQ+ people’s stories within the community.
• Organisation of Parramatta-specific events, including the Parramatta Pride Picnic and Panel events with community organisations.
• Inviting our Parramatta team members to participate in engagement surveys, ensuring their experiences and perspectives were listened to, helping build LGBTQ+ inclusion across the organisation.

External Initiatives

• Active participation as a contributing member of the ‘Parramatta Queer Forum’ while encouraging other organisations within the Parramatta LGA to join, promoting a collaborative opportunity for all employers and organisations.
• Partnership with the City of Parramatta Council and Pride in Diversity to deliver a campaign encouraging local businesses in the Parramatta LGA to join the Welcome Here project, supported with allyship training.
• Sponsorship, organisation and participation in the Parramatta Pride Picnic, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.
• Deepening our partnerships with the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation and Out for Australia, offering LGBTQ+ education and networking opportunities for people in Western Sydney.
• Sponsorship and delivery of the Greater Western Sydney LGBTQ+ Forum 2022 in partnership with Pride in Diversity, encouraging dialogue and collaboration across the community.

While the project achieved remarkable results in 6 (six) out of the 8 (eight) predetermined measures, opportunities for improvement were identified. These included expanding the reach of the Welcome Here Project at local sites and enhancing the data collection through residential surveys.

Throughout the project, the monitoring and evaluation of strengths, successes, and areas for growth allowed our team to adapt and optimise our approach. By sharing these learnings as a blueprint with other organisations and local governments, we aim to empower businesses and communities in their efforts to create better experiences together for a better tomorrow.

Optional for website:

Internal Success Measures Achieved:

1. Achieved an 80% opt-in rate for the Welcome Here Project, showcasing widespread support for LGBTQ+ inclusion within the organisation.
2. Observed an incremental increase in team members utilising Gender Affirmation Leave, reflecting a growing awareness and acceptance of diverse gender identities.
3. Increased team member engagement and participation in LGBTQ+ events, including the Parramatta Pride Picnic and BGF events, demonstrating a stronger sense of belonging and allyship.
4. Recorded higher ‘Sense of belonging’ measures through the Voice of Team surveys, indicating a more inclusive and supportive work environment.

External Success Measures Achieved:

1. Successfully enrolled 25 local sites in the Welcome Here Project, with 17 sites activated, fostering LGBTQ+ inclusion across the Parramatta LGA business community.
2. Conducted a survey of residents to gauge their knowledge and engagement with LGBTQ+ communities, providing valuable insights for future initiatives and programs.
3. Increased the membership of the Parramatta Queer Forum, strengthening the collective efforts towards fostering LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the region.

At Clayton Utz we are committed to promoting diversity, equality, respect and inclusion, because we come from various backgrounds and communities. Part of that is creating an environment that fosters a sense of freedom for LGBTIQ employees so they can bring their whole selves to work.

For our Platinum Project we have created an online toolkit aimed at maximising the experience of LGBTIQ employees when they are working remotely.  Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 the number of people working remotely has drastically increased.  Employees want to be able to continue to access this form of flexibility to meet their personal needs and achieve work / life balance.  However, this increase in remote working may lead to employees facing additional challenges, including those in the LGBTIQ community.  Our project is about helping LGBTIQ employees to maximise their engagement and sense of inclusion with a particular focus on mental health and wellbeing.

The toolkit is designed to be a resource that you can dip in and out of as required and monitor for any new material.  It addresses six specifics challenge areas which have been curated with content aimed at providing support and information for LGBTIQ employees, their managers and allies.  The areas of focus are mental health, coming out at work, career progression, inclusive leadership and effective allyship, gender diversity and advocacy

The toolkit includes a variety of tools and resources, including tipsheets, advice from leading organisations, carefully curated external links and personal stories shared through podcasts, videos and articles.  We hope that LGBTIQ employees, their managers and allies will find the toolkit a valuable resource to be able to come back to again and again.

The Shine Network (PwC’s LGBTI employee network) and firmwide Diversity Inclusion & Wellbeing (DI&W) team have worked together to continue to test and enhance the organisational support we provide to the LGBTI community at PwC.

To do this, we partnered with SuperFriend to complete research into the wellbeing of the LGBTI community at PwC – through an internal survey. This research measured workplace mental health and wellbeing through the Thriving Workplace Index and also gathered important perspectives on psychological safety at work, LGBTI wellbeing at work, wellbeing outside of work and the broader impact of COVID-19.

Prior to the internal survey, desktop research was completed to look for and consider international wellbeing benchmarks and other related surveys of the LGBTI community (including with reference to the impacts of COVID-19, that could be used as comparators) – the findings of this desktop research were factored in the survey questions set and reviewed by SuperFriend.

This research was completed in late 2021, with 135 employee survey responses, providing both qualitative and quantitative insights. Of this group of respondents, 115 identified with the LGBTI community, representing approximately 30% of the identifying LGBTI community at PwC.

This report outlines the key findings of the research conducted across the main themes of the survey, and highlights the key actions that were identified and are being shared and implemented at PwC in 2022.

The RMIT Diverse Genders, Sexes and Sexualities (DGSS) Research Network started at RMIT in 2020 to connect researchers who identify as LGBTIQ+ and/or research in the fields of gender diversity and sexuality.

LGBTIQ+ staff remain marginalized within Higher Education. The network is a safe space to express identities and discuss work with peers and offers symposia and seminars as well as social events.

Founded in 2020 by Higher Degrees by Research Candidates and academic staff at RMIT University, this network is the first of its kind in Australia as it is not linked to a professional or academic association and is run by volunteers.

Per Allies in the Workplace data point, more non-LGBTIQ+ people are saying they would not call themselves allies. Of those:

• 34% said they don’t know enough about why they should be an ally
• 19% said they didn’t know where to start

We have the drive and resources: client-centricity is part of Accenture’s DNA and we have a mature and thriving Pride network.

Together, we determined that we could support the organisations we work with every day in developing their LGBTIQ+ inclusion.

In 2020 we aimed to partner with a small selection of our clients to help them develop their LGBTIQ+ inclusion. This included strategic advice, pride ally training development and train-the-trainer sessions for our clients:
Australia Post, Pexa, ASX, NIB and RioTinto.

In total, we invested over 80 hours in client-specific planning, engagement and support, and 15 hours in general planning and write-up.

Note: initially we planned to offer Accenture’s UNITE virtual reality module which allows participants to be involved in a workplace-based unconscious bias scenario involving an LGBTIQ+ individual, with the participant asked to choose from options to determine how the scenario will play out. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions this was not an option as it required a face-to-face element.

Our success would be measured by a mix of quantitative and qualitative feedback from our clients.

What we did for these clients throughout the year included:

For Australia Post:

• Provided advice on how to support an Accenture transgender team member through their gender affirmation, working closely with the ASX team
• Provided Transgender 101 training to members of the project team and ASX pride team (Q ASX)
• Provided training materials for future trainings on this topic (session was recorded for team members who were unable to attend on the day)
• Continue to provide support and advice as needed to the Q ASX team to support the transgender individual and the Q ASX network as a whole.

For PEXA:

• Provided advice on establishing their I&D network including Pride
• Shared how Accenture runs our pride network
• Shared our ally training content
• Running ally training ‘train the trainer’ session with pride network representatives in March 2021 to assist the growth and training of their recently launched ally network.

For nib:

• Provided advice on establishing their pride strategy and engagement plan
• Continue to provide advice and support as needed

For RioTinto:

• Engagement and advice on how to grow Rio Tinto’s Pride network, Thrive, by showcasing Pride At Accenture’s journey through presentations to the Thrive Committee
• Collaboration with the Brisbane based representatives’ team on planning and strategy approach for Thrive
• Thrive BNE East Coast Indicatives
• Engagement of employees
• Growing Thrive employee network
• Events
• Policy work
• Education and training
• Committee structure
• External engagement opportunities
• Provided guidance, engagement and collaboration to kick start Rio Tinto’s Thrive Ally Training package, including workshops provided to the Thrive committee and Rio Tinto employees on Pride At Accenture’s Ally Training program
• Open dialogue and general support provided through regular check ins

Insight:  We initially thought that we would be training more of the broader population within our clients (i.e. people who wouldn’t call themselves allies because they don’t know enough about where to start).

We ended up working with the pride teams and committed allies, partly due to client caution during the pandemic and partly because they liked the idea of developing their own training and running it themselves.

Impact: We empowered our clients to think about the best ways for them to reach their own untapped ‘future allies’ in the way that made the most sense for them. By running a train-the-trainer format, our clients now have the capability to run the training for additional members of their organisation and continue to have an impact.

The project was a success – and many of our clients are keen to keep engaging with us! Therefore while the project has officially ended for 2020, in 2021 we will continue to work close with the clients we supported in 2020, and others where we know we can make an impact. We are also looking at ways to collaborate with some of these clients for Pride month events in 2021.

Since the Oceania EY Unity network was formed, there has been an underrepresentation of LGBTQ women involved in the network, and while the network has grown significantly over the years, the number of self-identifying women has remained low.

For the AWEI Platinum Project (“the Project”), we proposed to develop a dedicated initiative to drive LGBTQ female engagement and participation in the Unity network. We therefore created “She Starts Out”, a business mentoring program targeted at LGBTQ female social impact entrepreneurs. This program allows EY people to provide skilled volunteering to social impact entrepreneurs who identify as LGBTQ women, and help those women develop and scale their businesses for success.

EY people will deliver 6 business clinics to the selected cohort, and the participants will also be individually matched with an EY mentor to provide further support during the term of the program. The program was designed and built internally in the second half of 2020, launched externally in January 2021 and will run from March – June 2021.

This differentiated focus has uplifted the profile and visibility of LGBTQ women at EY significantly, and we have witnessed a 450% increase in the number of openly identifying LGBTQ women in Unity in the past 12 months.

Project Need

Very little academic research has been undertaken around LGBTQ+ employment in the construction sector globally despite construction being a major employer with unique challenges compared to other sectors, including:

• a large proportion of sub-contract workers on sites;
• micro cultures dependent on local site leadership;
• a mix of blue and white collar employment; and
• great diversity in employment locations from large CBD projects to small regional and remote areas.

Platinum Project

To address this need Lendlease partnered with academics from the University of New South Wales to research the barriers to LGBTQ+ inclusion in the construction sector. The researchers had expertise in gender, construction management and human rights and co-designed the research in conjunction with Lendlease.

The research involved an international literature review and semi-structured interviews with 23 LGBTQ+ participants from NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania. Participants covered a range of genders, sexual orientations, work locations, and work backgrounds including senior leadership through to on site trades.

Interviews focussed on participants careers in the construction industry and their experiences as LGBTQ+ workers, how they have navigated identity at home and work, effectiveness of existing diversity and inclusion strategies in the workplace and opportunities for inclusion.

A report summarising the key findings from the research and recommendations to address will be published during 2021. It is anticipated this will provide a base level of understanding amongst industry employers enabling them to work collaboratively to improve the LGBTQ+ inclusivity of the sector.

If you would like to register to receive the report when it is released and be included in future communications on this topic please email beyourself@lendlease.com

Lendlease looks forward to promoting these findings throughout the sector and continuing to lead the conversation on LGBTQ+ inclusion for the property and construction industry as we deepen our engagement with our own workforce on LGBTQ+ inclusion beyond the corporate office environment.

Using a human centred design approach, our Pride at Macquarie Employee Network Group (ENG) identified three initiatives to create meaningful impact for our SGD employees who identify as female:

1. Create a global community within Macquarie for SGD women hosted on our collaboration and connection platform Workplace by Facebook, called ‘Women of Pride’
2. Engage our Macquarie and external allies by hosting events where they could hear the experiences of SGD women, and provide a safe space for people to educate themselves, ask questions and build their understanding of the unique experiences of SGD women
3. Leverage the power of storytelling to increase awareness of the unique experience of SGD women across Macquarie and share experiences and stories externally to increase awareness and highlight role models in our industry, communities and more broadly.

Our Pride at Macquarie ENG delivered these initiatives in a virtual environment in light of our move to remote ways of working due to COVID-19. To measure the impact of our project we collected feedback and conducted surveys to understand engagement.

Feedback from Women of Pride, members of the Pride@Macquarie ENG, allies and the broader Macquarie population speak to the positive impact of the Platinum Project. Delivered during a time where remote working impacted people’s wellbeing, relationships and sense of belonging in various ways, the project contributed to an environment where SGD women could connect, network and feel a sense of belonging.

The increased visibility of SGD women and opportunity to share their unique experiences has uplifted our collective understanding and provided the opportunity to feature SGD role models who have not been featured in the past. It has also contributed to increased participation and visibility of SGD women, with an increase of SGD women on the Pride@Macquarie committee.

In 2021, the Pride at Macquarie ENG will continue to focus on the inclusion and psychological safety of our SGD women, ensuring visibility of role models, diversity of experiences shared and participation of SGD women across all streams of the ENG.

As we move to more hybrid ways of working, including in-person events and working from our offices, we will explore hosting networking events for Women of Pride, and find ways we can continue to build the connections and community.

PROJECT PEACOCK

Background

The experience of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Students at The University of Western Australia: Research Report 2016 (Attachment A) identified that;

• 7% of participants reported not disclosing their sexual orientation, gender history/expression or history of transition at UWA in the preceding 12 months in order to avoid harassment or discrimination
• 8% of students said their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression had affected their ability to socialise at UWA
• 1 in 5 students participants said their sexual orientation and/or gender identity or expression had disrupted their academic progress

In addition, the Telethon Kids Institute Trans Pathways study (Attachment B) found that;

• 9% of Trans youth have experienced discrimination
• 89% had experienced peer rejection and 74% had experienced bullying Project intentions
• In response to the above research done, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Education sponsored the collaborative work of the Strategy, Planning and Performance department, the LGBTIQA+ Working Group and the Education Enhancement Unit to develop and promote a blended learning resource kit called Project Peacock for academic and professional staff that would:
• Improve the student experience by facilitating a safer learning and teaching environment for LGBTIQA+ students
• Increase access to development opportunities by providing training resources to students and staff in remote locations using existing technology
• Support and extend our existing offering of Ally training to remote staff and students and those off campus.

What is Project Peacock?

Project Peacock is a suite of three self-paced fully online modules for academic staff to equip themselves with tips and techniques to improve the student experience across resources, digital spaces, and physical classrooms.

Although the University offers Ally Training, Project Peacock is not focused on just the “classroom” experience. It builds on UWA’s focus on improving student experience and providing access and resources to our regional and remote staff and students from Albany, Geraldton and those not physically located at our Perth campus.

Professional staff make up 67% of our fulltime positions and often have access to more professional development opportunities than Academics. We noticed that there is often an over representation of professional staff at Ally training with relatively few academics attending face to face training.

Project Peacock is both scalable & efficient as we are limited in the amount of face2face training we can deliver each year. The modules are self-paced and self-assessed, taking participants between 1–3 hours to complete. They provide video content covering the acronym and the diverse lived experiences and intersectionality represented by the staff, students, alumni and the LBGTIQA+ and broader UWA community who are featured.

Project Outcomes

• Increased engagement with UWA communities of practise such as the LGBTIQA+ working group, Pride and Diversity, Blackstone Society and the Inclusion and Diversity Committee who have all partnered together to develop this resource kit.
• UWA now has a weekly Ally Network newsletter to raise awareness of any issues and keep staff and students informed.
• A range of departments across the University are now collaborating and partnering together to focus on the student experience.
• The project has provided a resource that will be made available to the WA community and the wider Pride and Diversity network.
• A pilot feedback session was run at the Pride in Practice Conference and findings are included.
• External Community Engagement – eight UWA alumni and community members (who are from AWEI participating organisations) agreed to participate and share their experiences on video.

The PrideAtAccenture Platinum project sought to plan, deliver and measure a year long project aimed at the reduction of unconscious bias towards LGBTI employees at work.

The highlight of the project was a 4 week campaign to be held during Pride Month 2017 for which 20 working day campaign materials were developed alongside a plan to reinforce key messages throughout the remainder of the year.

Accenture leaders were engaged early within the program, playing an active role during and after the campaign. Clearly defined metrics were defined to measure the outcomes of the program along with the establishment of a lasting legacy: the ability to share the lived experiences of LGBTI employees using a combination of cutting edge approaches including storytelling, gamification, leadership role modelling and social collaboration.

We are extremely proud of our progress towards LGBTI inclusion at Lendlease. Since 2009 we have been proactively driving awareness, developing and supporting our leaders, and celebrating with our LGBTI community.

Our business is enormously diverse, and with over half of our workforce working from construction sites, satellite offices or in our varied assets, we were concerned that our usual communication and training channels may not always reach our remote teams. So, to ensure we reached our entire workforce, we changed the way we shared our messages and showed our support.

Our approach was two-fold:
1. Inclusive Leadership;
2. Site Network and Awareness Campaign.

Firstly, we focused on inclusive leadership, involving both Out Leaders and Ally Leaders to share their personal stories on why LGBTI Inclusion is important to them. We created a series of Out Leader videos with recognisable leaders, who shared their story and the impact of LGBTI exclusion; provided advice to other LGBTI employees and explained how people can show their support. These videos were used in team meetings and are available on our intranet.

The other core element was our site network and awareness campaign. We focused on connecting the core message of inclusion to a topic very familiar with our business and industry – mental health. We discussed rates of depression and suicide in the LGBTI community to reinforce the importance of driving LGBTI inclusion at work.

To assist our leaders, we developed a Manager Toolkit that included the key messages, promotional materials such as rainbow laces, purple shirts and posters plus a range of activities with instructions to help generate a conversation and team involvement.

Knowing how diverse our teams are, we empowered our leaders to determine what resources would work best for their local teams and how they would approach the event, considering the time and technology available to them.

Leader briefing sessions, conducted with the LGBTI Employee Resource Group, provided an opportunity for leaders to discuss their approach, and in a safe environment, ask questions and receive coaching on how to manage different questions and reactions from the team.

We held events in over 160 locations around Australia aligned to Wear It Purple Day. We were overwhelmed by the support shown and how actively the teams participated. Photos and stories were shared via our internal social media platform, Yammer, and there were many examples where our employees shared the message of LGBTI inclusion with family, friends and industry connections.

At Westpac we’re proud of our LGBTIQ inclusion journey.

In 2017 we embarked on an ambitious program of work for our AWEI Platinum Project. Over the preceding years we had taken significant steps to ensure our LGBTIQ workforce and allies felt comfortable to be themselves and supported at work.

Engagement had been particularly strong in our Metropolitan locations however we recognised that those in regional locations often faced greater challenges to feel included.

As such we set ourselves the vision for our Platinum project to grow our remote and regional reach of LGBTIQ inclusion so that all our LGBTIQ employees felt supported no matter where they go to work. It was a busy year and the same sex marriage debate brought an increased urgency for us to support our LGBTIQ employees, and those close to them, particularly those outside our main metropolitan locations.

Working with stakeholders at all levels of our business our platinum project enabled us to:

Grow our regional membership of GLOBAL significantly;
Utilise new technology and social media to ensure our events were accessible to all;
Establish and grow our LGBTIQ support, events and awareness in every state through a significantly new regional and interstate structure;
Organise Australia’s first LGBTIQ corporate organised summit in Sydney attended by over 250 guests half of which travelling from our regional locations around Australia.

The work of our Platinum Project continues.

We recognise the challenge of regional LGBTIQ reach is not unique to Westpac Group. In 2018 and beyond are continuing to partner and support businesses and local community organisations so that we help to build regional inclusion for those that need it most.

“Our long involvement with Pride in Diversity, as a founding member in 2010 and participating in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) every year since, has been key to driving and evaluating our progress around lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) workplace inclusion.

We are proud that our internal focus has seen the firm feature consistently in the Top 10 of the AWEI since its inception. We were named employer of the year in 2014, and achieved Platinum Status in 2016, recognising our significant achievements in LGBTI inclusion.

Now, we are excited that our Platinum Status provides the firm the platform to work on a unique inclusion project which will benefit Pride in Diversity, our fellow members and the community at large.”

To read more about Goldman Sachs’ Platinum Project, pleas download a copy of their Platinum Employer Report.

“PwC was honoured to be recognised as the AWEI top employer of the year in 2012 and 2015 for our commitment to LGBTI inclusion. We were the first organisation in Australia to receive this award twice.

In 2016, as a platinum tier organisation, we extended our commitment to LGBTI inclusion across three areas:

1. Factbased evidence on the best way to achieve marriage equality

PwC undertook economic modelling on the costs associated with the three parliamentary mechanisms available to change Australia’s current definition of marriage in the Marriage Act, including a plebiscite. The report produced over 25 million media impressions nationally in turn spurring commentary and debate about the issue from politicians, clients, business peers and the general public.

2. Strategic advice to create the Pride Centre

PwC was appointed by the Victorian government to undertake a feasibility study for the establishment of a Pride Centre in Melbourne. The PwC team, led by the real estate advisory practice, established a model for a selfsustaining centre where LGBTI communities could cohabitate, collaborate and share resources. On 20th April 2016, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced $15 million in funding toward the Pride Centre that will serve as a hub for the LGBTI community, as part of its 2016/2017 Victorian Budget. In October 2016, PwC were engaged to support the next phase of the Pride Centre which included further community consultation, the short listing and selection of potential sites and the development of the business case.

3. Engaging broadly on the importance of workplace LGBTI inclusion

We coordinated two CEO roundtables with PiD, with over 30 CEOs from Australia’s largest businesses participating. PwC’s CEO roundtable has now become an established event on the annual PiD calendar.

PwC took a lead role in the creation of the PiD Executive Allies network led by partner Ian Bennett. The group, formed to accelerate LGBTI inclusion in Australian workplaces by leveraging the power of influential and impassioned straight allies, has over 35 members across a range of companies.

We used our media relationships to proactively improve the media’s coverage of workplace issues, in particular to reinforce the importance of workplace inclusion. This included the flagship business package for the 2016 SBS Mardi Gras coverage, which featured PwC and PiD staff. SBS also profiled the Chair of our Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board, Paul Zahra.

CEO Luke Sayers was profiled in the AFR’s Boss Magazine and used this platform to advocate for marriage equality in Australia. PwC is proud of the continued progress we have made over the past year in fostering an inclusive culture and we are committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion remains at the centre of our strategy. Through our interactions with our peers and clients in the business community, we continue to encourage others to have a voice on diversity and inclusion.”