Professional Services firm EY has been named Australia’s 2018 Employer of the Year for LGBTI inclusion at the Australian LGBTI Inclusion Awards, hosted today by ACON’s Pride in Diversity – the national not-for-profit employer support program for LGBTI workplace inclusion.
More than 700 business leaders, diversity champions, HR professionals and many more actively working on LGBTI inclusion came together at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney to celebrate the results of Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI); a rigorous, evidence-based benchmarking instrument that assesses workplaces in the work and impact of their LGBTI inclusion initiatives.
In 2018, for the first time, there was significant shift in the makeup of top employers. Traditionally dominated by financial and professional services, this year saw representation from government, retail, higher education and religious organisations. The Australian Taxation Office, Brisbane City Council, Woolworths, RMIT University, AGL Energy and Uniting were all recognised for their efforts..
Twelve organisations were awarded Gold Employer status, with an additional four being awarded Platinum for the longevity of their high performance spanning at least four of the last five years. Achieving the Platinum status were Westpac, LendLease, Accenture and the Commonwealth Bank.
Christine Parker, Westpac’s Group Executive Human Resources said the organisation was proud to be recognised fore their strong performance over the last six years.
“Westpac is committed to equality and inclusion and this award is a wonderful recognition of our focus on building a safe and respectful work environment for all LGBTIQ employees.” Parker said.
Luke Sayers, CEO of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, was named CEO of the Year Award for his role in LGBTI inclusion.
Director of ACON’s Pride Inclusion Programs, which incorporates Pride in Diversity, Pride in Sport and Pride in Health+Wellbeing, Dawn Hough said the awards had seen remarkable grown since their inception.
“The AWEI has seen remarkable growth over the first eight years of its life; this year we see the most significant change in the diversity of our top employers and a much higher growth in participation of our small employers which we are delighted about.”
The AWEI saw 135 employers across Australia participate this year, a 16 per cent increase on 2017 participation. The employee survey attached to the index received 23,130 responses, an increase of 38 per cent.
Participation by small employers rose by 120 per cent this year with Key Assets, The Children’s Services Provider (Australia) taking out Small Employer of the Year Award.
Image: Team members from EY accept the award.
