New research from the United States has found many LGBT employees still don’t feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation in the workplace.
Diversity Council Australia CEO, Nareen Young fears Australian LGBT employees share the same concerns about coming out at work.
The US research was published in the Harvard Business Review in July this year and surveyed almost 3,000 LGBT employees. Conducted by the Centre for Work-Life Policy, the research revealed 48 per cent of respondents reported being closeted at work which had negative consequences.
Young said Diversity Council Australia had also conducted its own research into LGBT employees in Australia and found similar problems.
‘DCA’s Working for the Future research found 16 per cent of gay men and lesbians said they had been discriminated against at work on the basis of their sexual orientation. This is a high figure compared to the percentage of respondents overall who felt they had been discriminated against in the past year (i.e. 10 per cent),’ she said.
‘These people were also more likely to strongly disagree or disagree that, in their job, people treat each other with respect (26 per cent gay employees vs. 17 per cent straight employees), and less likely to indicate people are chosen for jobs on the basis of their competency (50 per cent vs. 70 per cent).
‘No-one should have to hide who they really are at work for fear of being judged, harassed or excluded. In this day and age, there’s no excuse for homophobic behaviour.’
Workplace discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation can still be found in Western Australia, according to WA Equal Opportunity Commissioner Yvonne Henderson.
‘Most of the complaints we get arise out of circumstances where they do reveal their sexuality and then there is some negative outcome and that leads to a complaint,’ Henderson said.
The Commissioner said LGBT people may be less likely to come out in the workplace if they would expect a negative reaction. She said employers needed to know that just meeting the minimum requirements of diversity training was ‘not enough’.
‘It’s not enough to give training when they first start there or to provide them with an induction manual that’s got policies in there. You have to constantly retrain people; you have to make it clear that you have a policy, as many places do, of zero tolerance…’ she said.
‘It’s not enough just to say that, you have to actually create opportunities that work to talk about these things and constantly retrain staff so that they understand that you’re actually serious about your policies.
‘It’s about walking the talk, it’s about showing they’re serious about it in their day-to-day dealings and the kind of stuff that has come out of this U.S. research doesn’t surprise me at all.’
In Australia, organisations like Pride in Diversity and GLCS WA have already developed training programs to make workplaces more gay-friendly.
Pride in Diversity is based in Darlinghurst, NSW and is the only organisation in Australia whose sole aim is to specifically address workplace inclusion for the LGBT community. Over 30 organisations have already signed up to the national program including property company Lend Lease, oil giant Chevron Australia and the Australian Federal Police.
Pride in Diversity Program Director Dawn Hough said the program was making huge differences in organisations.
‘What the training does is look at why is LGBT a workplace issue and one of the things we talk about very much is there is a common feeling out there that we don’t bring our sexual orientation into work, it’s a private thing,’ Hough said.
‘But heterosexual people bring their sexual orientation to work every single day and it’s on display, 24/7 and they don’t even think about it, it’s such an intrinsic part of who they are and it’s the same for us.’
In terms of LGBT inclusiveness, Hough said Australian workplaces were ‘a bit behind the States and the UK’. Large multinational companies were leading the way in diversity strategies, according to Hough who said they had seen the importance of such training in other countries.
‘They’re the ones who are doing it well at the moment because they’ve seen how effective it is in other countries and they know how important it is,’ she said.
‘What we’re actually finding though, there is still a lot of caution there and organisations are still a little bit nervous to be seen supporting gay and lesbian people.’
‘We’re getting there,’ Hough said, ‘we’ve got a lot of organisations standing up and saying this is really important and what we’re finding is that as organisations are seeing their competitors take this on, they want to take this on as well.’
Here in Western Australia, Gay and Lesbian Community Services (GLCS) has been providing training to companies and organisations with their award-winning Opening Closets program. The program helps organisations tackle discriminatory attitudes in the workplace and improve accessibility for LGBT workers. GLCS Chairperson Nadine Toussaint said many LGBT workers were unaware of the anti-discrimination laws that protected employees.
‘In terms of LGBTI inclusiveness, WA workplaces vary especially at an organisational policy level,’ she said.
‘The same goes for workplace culture. Some organisations offer a safe environment for LGBTI people while others make workers feel uncomfortable and even unsafe.
‘Unfortunately many workers also do not realise that there are laws under which they are protected, or are fearful about making a complaint. While there are a few exceptions under the Equal Opportunity Act, generally employers have a responsibility to provide a workplace free from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender history.’
Toussaint said discrimination in the workplace was unacceptable and needed to be reported in order for something to be done about it.
For more information about lodging a complaint, contact the Equal Opportunity Commission, email eoc@eoc.wa.gov.au, visit www.eoc.wa.gov.au or call 08 9216 3900.
CORRECTION: The former article said Nadine Toussaint was the President of GLCS but she is actually the Chairperson.
Benn Dorrington
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