Pride in Diversity

Thank you.

Can I begin by acknowledging that we meet on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and pay my respects to elders past and present – and pay my respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait people here today.

It is great to be back at this important awards ceremony, and it is particularly good this year to be joined by my co-patron and friend, Alan Joyce.

On behalf of Alan and I, can we begin by thanking you – this is your day.

We come together to celebrate and reward your efforts to make Australian workplaces:

• safer
• more inclusive, and
• more productive.

What you do is fundamentally about social justice and fairness but – at the heart of everything you do – is unleashing the full potential of others.

I passionately believe:

• that everybody has gifts
• everyone has an important contribution to make,
• but they can only do this in workplaces where they are
  • free from harassment
  • free from discrimination, and
  • free from fear.

People can only be their best when they can be themselves.

This year, there are some important results to reflect on.

Some good – and some that show the task ahead.

This year’s Australia Workplace Equality Index – which was completed by more than 41,000 people – tells us that:

• 86 per cent of employees think it is important that their organisation is active in LGBTQ-plus inclusion.

And the same number believe that working on inclusion has a positive influence on an organisation’s culture.

It’s great to also see that 9 out of 10 employees believe a person of diverse sexuality would be welcome in their team and they would be treated no differently than anyone else.

But fewer people are seeing or being active allies.

And senior leaders are far more likely to be active allies than other employees

It’s clear we need people to stand up more than ever because there are some worrying trends in this year’s results.

Fourteen per cent of people in the workplace have witnessed bullying behaviours including:

• negative comments
• jokes, or
• innuendo targeting people’s sexuality or gender.

So, what does all of this mean for people bringing their true selves to work?

Well, all up just over one third of people with diverse sexual orientation are out and open to everyone at work. That’s remained relatively stable.

Trans and gender diverse employees are less likely to be open,

And age has a significant impact on whether people are out or open in the workplace with younger employees less likely to show who they are.

We know our community feels less comfortable about being themselves in the workplace when social issues are playing out negatively in the media and politics such as the Religious Freedoms Bill and marriage equality.

We need to be conscious of these societal trends when we support our people.

And it is so pleasing that so many more companies see our work as vital.

Since the last awards in May 2022, we have grown from 511 members to 630 members across all three programs – that’s a 25 per cent increase in two years.

Nine out of 10 of Australia’s largest employers are Pride in Diversity members and up to 5 million employees work at member companies – that’s a great result.

This underscores the importance of that relentless focus we have on workplace inclusion.

The simple reality is that most people work – the bulk of our awake hours are at work and so many views and attitudes are informed by workplaces.

So, if we keep our focus, and make an impact we should have a profound influence on creating a more respectful, more civil and more tolerant society.

But sometimes I feel we have a mountain to climb.

Last time I was here I apologised on behalf of Alan and myself to our Transgender community for the horrific singling out during the last federal election.

Yet, we still see, time and time again the Transgender community targeted with ignorant and often brutal attacks.

Then we see a local government authority ban a book on same-sex parenting at libraries.

Notwithstanding the Constitutional requirement of separation of church and state, history tells us that banning books is an affront to democratic values.

But more importantly – and I say this to the people who make these decisions –when you do these things, it is hurtful and disrespectful, and I don’t understand how institutions want to be purposefully hurtful.

And I ask them what is about my lifestyle that is such a threat to yours.

Thankfully, community pressure convinced the council to overturn its decision.

Common sense prevailed because good people stood up to be counted.

Then we have some senior church leaders taking it upon themselves to write to schools warning how people like us are impinging on people’s freedoms and that somehow we alone are an affront to our nation’s way of life.

They cite:

• the marriage equality plebiscite
• what they call the “radicalised transgender lobby’’, and
• again, I’m quoting them, the ‘’push for diversity and inclusivity’ training in the corporate sector’’

as examples of how traditional values, beliefs and freedoms are being undermined.

When I read this letter, I found:

• it was humiliating
• it degraded my character, and
• it was an astonishing attack on people like me – people like us.

What is it that I do every day – get up, pay my taxes and go to work – that is such an affront?

What is it that I do that provokes such cruelty of language?

I was particularly concerned at the suggestion the implication of all of this – that somehow people like me, people like us – cannot be entrusted with children is the real kicker.

That by definition we are a threat to the safety and wellbeing of children.

Well, I can tell you as someone who has run the Department of Community Services, who was a Secretary of Education and a Director of Housing – that surely children are safest with those who love and respect them.

So, I ask what freedoms have I taken away?

What threat to Australia’s way of life do I represent?

I know the freedom which was taken away from me was the freedom to practice the faith I so strongly held as a young person.

I was drawn to the Church’s teachings of forgiveness, tolerance, understanding, and the golden rule.

But when people tell you that everything about you is sinful – then how can you stay wedded to the faith you loved as a child?

I feel I was robbed of that.

Not to mention the innocence that was stolen by gross systemic failure of a wide cross section of institutions of turning a blind eye to the abuse of young boys and girls entrusted in their care.

A tolerant, respectful and civil society is a responsibility of everybody in a leadership position.

When debates get personal, when they get disrespectful, it undermines the social cohesion that is such an important part of Australian society.

It also takes an enormous personal toll on individuals.

These examples show the importance and urgency of the work you are doing.

Today is a celebration, but we must always pause to reflect that the task is so big – and I know it feels exhausting and sometimes demoralising, but it is our collective persistent actions that will make a difference.

It is our support of one another that gives us collective strength.

That is why we celebrate today.

That is why we have fun today.

That is why we shout out and say thank you to each and every one of you in this room because together, we will make our workplaces better and we will make our society better.

Because we can and we must continue to create a society where the dignity of every single person is upheld, valued and respected.

Thank you very much.