Key Issue

80 per cent of homophobic bullying involving LGBTIQA+ young people occurs at school and has a profound impact on their well-being and education.

Key Issue

Around 61 per cent of same-sex attracted and gender-questioning young people said they experienced verbal abuse because of their sexuality, while 18 per cent reported experiencing physical abuse.
Same-sex attracted young men (70 per cent) and gender-questioning young people (66 per cent) were more likely than same-sex attracted young women (53 per cent) to experience verbal abuse.

Key Issue

Transgender males and females experience significantly higher rates of non-physical and physical abuse compared with lesbians and gay men.

Improved visibility = inclusion = equality

While progress has been made, many in the LGBTIQA+ community still worry that revealing their sexuality, gender identity or intersex status at work will have negative consequences and

many choose not to disclose at work. They hide their private lives from colleagues and clients for fear of discrimination, homophobia, exclusion or in case they are overlooked for valuable promotions.

Evading questions or ‘self editing’ about family life can be like dodging bullets if you think that revealing your sexuality will make work relations difficult. LGBTIQA+ people are very aware of the fact that we live in a heteronormative society. Transgender people, whose sexuality often has

Video

In the video below, PwC Diversity Advisory Board member Paul Zahra, PwC’s GLEE (Gay, Lesbian and Everyone Else) Co Founders James Collins and Suzi Russell Gilford and GLEE member Mike Bellemore talk to SBS about LGBTI Workplace Inclusion.

Closed captioning:

Closed captioning is available by clicking the cc button in the video player.

There is value in diversity

Valuing and embracing workplace diversity and inclusion provides benefits such as higher staff engagement, improved performance, greater innovation, retention of talent, improved staff

Diversity and Inclusion

wellbeing and lower levels of unacceptable behaviour such as harassment and discrimination.

Diversity in cultural background and ethnicity, age, sex, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, language and education can lead to fresh and different perspectives, new and improved ways of doing things; all of which contribute significantly to our ‘high performing’ corporate aspiration.

A study by Deloitte found more diverse and inclusive workplaces saw on average an 83 per cent improvement on their ability to innovate, a 31 per cent improvement in the ability to respond to changing customer needs, and a 42 per cent improvement in team collaboration.

It’s the law

Sex Discrimination Act 1984

From 1 August 2013, it became unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status under federal law. Same sex couples are also protected from discrimination under the definition of ‘marital or relationship status’. These new protections will particularly apply to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender diverse and intersex people.

Equal Opportunity and Anti Discrimination Legislation

Legislation such as the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. It is also against the law

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Human Rights

To discriminate against someone because of their lawful sexual activity and physical features.

More information on State and Territory legislation can be sourced via the Australian Human Rights Commission website.

There is no separate human rights treaty focusing on sexuality and gender rights but LGBTIQA+ people have the right to enjoy all human rights available to other members of the community. In particular, people who are LGBTIQA+ enjoy the fundamental rights of non discrimination and equality before the law. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has been very clear that the principle of non discrimination and equality before the law protects LGBTIQA+ people under international law.

Yogyakarta Principles

The NDIA recognises the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, sex characteristics, intersex and gender identity, which states that:

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. All human rights are universal, indivisible and interrelated. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to every person’s dignity and humanity and must not be the basis for discrimination or abuse.”

The NDIA acknowledges the Yogyakarta Principles Plus 10 (YP Plus 10) that are a supplement and complement to the Yogyakarta Principles. The YP plus 10 was adopted on 10 November, 2017 and proceeds from the intersection of the developments in international human rights law with the emerging understanding of violations suffered by persons on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and the recognition of the distinct and intersectional grounds of gender expression and sex characteristics.

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Lesson 6 of 18

LGBTIQA+ 101

Understanding sex, gender and sexual orientation

‘LGBTIQA#’ refers to a broad collection of communities and populations whose bodies, genders, and relationships are often marginalised in Australian society.

Before we begin to unpack the LGBTIQA+ abbreviation and explore other definitions and concepts in detail, it is important to first understand that the LGBTIQA+ abbreviation is an umbrella term for three related but not necessarily connected component parts: sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

Sex refers to a person’s legal status and/or biological characteristics. It is not just a term for biological characteristics (sex characteristics), it can also refer to legal sex classifications.
Gender is a sense of self; it’s about how we see ourselves in the world and how we relate to others.
Sexual orientation is about who we are emotionally, physically, and romantically attracted to.

People tend to incorrectly use the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ interchangeably. At birth, a doctor assigns a newborn’s sex as either male or female, based on their genitals. Once a sex is assigned, we presume the child’s gender – a child born with a penis will be a boy and a child with a vulva will be a girl. While our gender may begin with the assignment of our sex, it doesn’t end there.

GENDER 101 SEXUAL ORIENTATION 101

Our gender is a big part of who we are, how we see ourselves in the world and how we relate to others.

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Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

Gender identity is different to gender expression. A person’s gender identity may line up with the sex they were assigned at birth and meet society’s expectations, or may not.

Gender includes male/man or female/woman, but is not limited to just these. Some people are gender diverse and experience their gender as falling outside the binary of man and woman or ‘in between’, or they may identify with no gender at all.

Gender can be expressed in many different ways, from those who identify with what they were assigned at birth (or cisgendered) to those that do not and who can be trans or gender diverse. Gender can be expressed as one identity, many identities, no identity, or a flux of identities that changes regularly.

GENDER 101

SEXUAL ORIENTATION 101

Sexual orientation covers a broad spectrum and is also deeply personal. It’s about understanding the sexual feelings and attractions we have towards others, not who we happen to have sex with.

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Everyone’s sexual orientation is different, and it’s not necessarily as simple as being ‘gay’ or

‘straight’. Some people are attracted to only one sex, and others are attracted to a diversity of people regardless of sex or gender, with a lot of different preferences in between.

Source: https://au.reachout.com

Meet the Genderbread Person

The Genderbread Person is a teaching tool for breaking the big concept of gender down into bite sized, digestible pieces. The tool explores gender identity and sexual orientation holistically by way of anatomical sex, gender identity, gender expression, and attraction.

Anatomical sex which is comprised of things like genitals, chromosomes (XX female, XY male), hormones, and more. But one thing it’s not: gender.
Gender identity which is your psychological sense of self. Who you, in your head, know yourself to be.
Attraction (which like anatomical sex) isn’t really a component of gender. However, we often connect sexual orientation with gender or categorise the
```
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```

Understanding Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

attraction we experience in gendered ways.

Gender expression which is the way you present gender, through your actions, clothing, demeanour - our outward-facing self.

A comprehensive Genderbread Person workbook is available for download towards the end of this course in the Practicing Inclusivity section.

Don’t confuse the two

Confusing gender identity and sexual orientation can lead to people making the wrong assumptions about others. When someone’s gender expression is different to what people expect, they are often assumed to be gay or lesbian.

The difference between gender identity and sexual orientation may also make it harder for people to understand their own orientation and identity. For example:

trans or gender diverse people may think that they must be gay, lesbian or bisexual, until they better understand their gender identity
trans and gender diverse people may at any given time change their sexual orientation to be affirming of their gender identity
a straight male who transitions to female and continues to want sexual and emotional relationships with women might redefine their sexuality as lesbian.

Understanding the LGBTIQA+ abbreviation

It is important to understand that there is no fixed way of defining and describing sexual orientation, sex characteristics and gender identity. This is a subject that LGBTIQA+ communities and others have strong views about. The meanings of particular words can also be interpreted differently, depending on the time, context and culture in which they are used. The following descriptions of lGBTIQA+ people are not complete and they are likely to change, as communities do.

Source: the National LGBTI Health Alliance

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Lesbian

An individual who identifies as a woman and is sexually and/or romantically attracted to other people who identify as women. Both cis and transgender women may identify as lesbians.

Gay

A person whose primary emotional and sexual attraction is towards people of the same sex. The term is most commonly applied to males, although some females use this term.

Bisexual

A person who is emotionally, sexually attracted persons of the same and opposite sex.

Trans and gender diverse (TGD)

A person who identifies their gender as different to what was assumed at birth may consider themselves transgender or trans. A trans person might identify as male or female, or as non binary (and relate to terms such as gender fluid, genderqueer, bigender etc.). Some women might use terms such as trans woman or Male to Female (MtF) and some men might use terms such as trans man of Female to MaleTrans (FtM) to describe their lived experience, others do not. Additionally, Indigenous trans women might identify as Sistergirl, Indigenous trans men as Brotherboy.

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A simple and least stigmatising term for a broad range of congenital physical traits or variations that lie between stereotypical ideals of male and female. Intersex people are born with physical, hormonal or genetic features that are neither wholly female nor wholly male, or a combination of female and male.

In this video from QLives, Bonnie who identifies as female shares her intersex story.

Queer

An umbrella term for a wide range of non[redacted] conforming gender identities and sexual orientations.

Asexual

The term relates to sexual orientation

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Asexual people do not experience sexual attraction. Asexual people have the same emotional needs as everybody else and are just as capable of forming intimate relationships. There is considerable diversity among the asexual community—each asexual person experiences things like relationships, attraction and arousal somewhat differently.

“I know I’ve never experienced sexual attraction. I do have a libido and I find it a rather pointless part of my being—if I lost it (apart from the worry of a medical issue if it went!) I wouldn’t miss it.”

Source: Asexual Visibility and Education Network

+(plus) =

The term relates to gender identity and/or sexual orientation

The + symbol is used to acknowledge that people can use a range of different words to describe their bodies and sexual and gender identities, other than those represented by the LGBTIQA acronym. The + reminds the LGBTIQA community to continue to be inclusive of all communities of diverse sex characteristics, sexuality, sex characteristics and genders.

Some of the different words used to describe bodies and sexual and gender identities include:

o Agender: A term which can be literally translated as “without gender”. Those who identify as agender, do not typically identify as male, or female or any other gender.

o Aromantic: An orientation characterised by a lack of romantic attraction. While asexuality is a sexual orientation, aromanticism is a romantic orientation, and the two don’t necessarily correlate. Someone may be asexual but not aromantic, or vice versa, or they may be on both spectrums.

o Multiple gender attraction: An umbrella term that includes any romantic, intimate or sexual orientation which experiences attraction to more than one gender. Such orientations include, but are not limited to, bisexuality, pansexuality, and polysexuality.

o Non-binary or gender fluid: Someone with a gender identity other than man or woman; there are a diverse range of non binary gender identities. Some intersex people and some trans people have non binary gender identities.

o Pansexual: Pansexuality, or omnisexuality, is the sexual, romantic or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others.

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Polyamorous: The practice of openly having more than one intimate, romantic or sexual relationship at a time with the consent of all people involved.
Polysexual: Being romantically, intimately or sexually attracted to more than one gender.

Other definitions and concepts

Binary and non-binary: the idea that there are only two genders is called the “gender binary.” Gender is a spectrum, and not limited to just two possibilities. A person may have a non binary gender identity, meaning they do not identify strictly as a man or a woman, boy or girl - they could identify as both or neither.
Bi-erasure (or bisexual invisibility): The tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or re explain evidence of bisexuality in history, academia, the news media, and other primary

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sources. In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure can include the denial that bisexuality exists.

Biphobia: The fear and hatred of bisexual people, leading to emotional and/or physical abuse. Bi people’s personal orientation is often seen as invalid by the general community (and also by some lesbian and gay people).
Cisgender: someone who feels comfortable with the gender identity assigned to them based on their sex assigned at birth.
Coming out: Coming out is often described as ‘disclosure’. Different cultures may use different terms for disclosure. Coming out is how some (not all) LGBTIQA+ people describe disclosure. People with intersex variations are less likely to associate themselves with the idea of disclosure in this context, just as they may not align themselves with LGBT or queer communities. Therefore, suggesting that all LGBTIQA+ people use, or identify with coming out may be misleading, offensive and alienating.
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus: HIV is a chronic, manageable condition that disproportionally affects gay and bisexual men in Australia. A person on effective HIV treatment is virally supressed and there is zero risk of transmitting the virus.
Homophobia: the fear and hatred of lesbians, gay men, bisexual people and of their sexual desires and practices leading to emotional and physical abuse.
Heteronormativity: A heteronormative view assumes that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation or normal way of behaving. Heteronormativity is often linked to heterosexism, homophobia and biphobia. While heteronormative language should be avoided, it needs to be understood that many transgender and intersex people are heterosexual.
Heterosexism A system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favour of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that other people are heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm and therefore superior.

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Heterosexuality: Heterosexuality is the romantic, intimate or sexual attraction between people of the opposite sex, or gender. People may engage in diverse sexual relationships, reinforcing that sexuality can be seen as a continuum. This is why it may be more useful to talk about our bodies, our genders and our relationships rather than where we sit on the diverse continuum of sexuality.

LGBTIQA+ ally: someone who actively calls out and confronts heterosexism, anti LGBTIQA+ biases, heterosexual and cisgender privilege in themselves and others in active support of LGBTIQA+ people; believes that heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia are social justice issues.

Multiple gender attraction: An umbrella term that includes any romantic, intimate or sexual orientation which experiences attraction to more than one gender. Such orientations include, but are not limited to, bisexuality, pansexuality, and polysexuality.

Pansexual: Having romantic, intimate or sexual preferences that are not limited by biological sex, gender or gender identity.

Polyamorous: The practice of openly having more than one intimate, romantic or sexual relationship at a time with the consent of all people involved.

Polysexual: Being romantically, intimately or sexually attracted to more than one gender.

Transphobia: fear and hatred of people who are transgender, which often leads to discriminatory behaviour or abuse.

Debunking myths

Myth: a person’s gender identity and sexual orientation are connected. In truth: this is a common misconception. Gender identity and sexual orientation are independent of each other.

Myth: homosexual and bisexual orientation is a phase that will pass. In truth: lots of people do experiment with their sexuality, gender identity and roles regardless of their straight or LGBTIQA+ identity, but for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, being attracted

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to the same gender or both genders all their life is no different to straight people being attracted to the opposite sex.

Myth: gay men enjoy dressing like and/or wish they were women. In truth: gender identity and sexual orientation are not connected. Also, people don’t “dress like women”, they dress in a feminine way. A gay man may enjoy dressing as themselves in a feminine way, but this would be his gender expression, not his gender identity.

Myth: trans people all wish to or are on a path to ‘transitioning’ from one gender to another. In truth: this reinforces the idea that there are only men and women and that people must conform to one of those two gender identities. This is incorrect. Transpeople do not necessarily wish to transition from one end of the spectrum to the other, and their gender may sit anywhere on the gender spectrum.”

Myth: my close friend told me he was gay I think he’s trying to come on to me. In truth: when a friend comes out to you, they are inviting you to know them as a whole person not to bed.

Myth: sexual orientation can be changed. In truth: according to scientific research, this is not the case.

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Lesson 7 of 18

The Agency’s approach to inclusion

The NDIA is committed to the inclusion of everyone who works at, or comes in contact with, our Agency. The NDIA Inclusion and Diversity Framework (external) demonstrates the Agency’s commitment to building and sustaining a workplace where diversity is celebrated and is representative of the community we serve. We want a workplace where potential and existing staff are able to thrive and provide different views, and where diversity is recognised as an integral part of the way we do business.

In practice, we achieve this by:

1. Nurturing an inclusive culture

The NDIA fosters a culture where diversity considerations are part of everyday thinking and operating. We recognise that in order to achieve the outcomes in our corporate plan we must be a leader in diversity and inclusion:

DIVERSITY | INCLUSION

Diversity refers to all the characteristics that make people different from each other. It includes age, caring responsibilities, cultural background, disability, gender, sex, sexual orientation and religion. Diversity also refers to educational level, life experience, work experience, socio economic background, personality and marital status. Diversity is about our commitment to equality and treating all individuals—our staff, participants and the communities in which we operate—with fairness and respect.

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Diversity & Inclusion

Inclusion refers to the act of creating environments in which individuals feel welcomed, respected and valued. Inclusive workplaces incorporate new and different ways of thinking, interacting and working so that all individuals, whether they are members of majority or minority groups or not, are able to contribute to the organisation.

2. Complying with the APS Code of Conduct

All APS employees have a shared obligation to create positive workplaces characterised by mutual respect, high levels of employee engagement, and a high performance culture that encourages innovation and creativity.

Our employment in the APS requires us to be familiar with and comply with the APS Code of Conduct, including at all times behave in a way that upholds the APS Values and Employment Principles (external) and the integrity and good reputation of their agency and the APS.

Labour hire workers are expected to demonstrate behaviours that are consistent with the APS values and Code of Conduct as well as the NDIA values.

3. Living the Agency values

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The NDIA is committed to promoting and maintaining a workplace culture where staff are able to work in an environment that is free from bullying and harassment, and are treated with respect and courtesy.

This commitment is reflected in all four of the Agency values.

4. A Positive and Productive Workplace

A number of documents collectively provide a framework that the Agency uses to ensure a Positive and Productive Workplace. You can find these documents on the WHS Intranet page under Procedures, Forms and Supporting Documents (external)

Positive and Productive Workplace Policy

The Positive and Productive Workplace policy identifies positive workplace approaches to assist in maintaining a productive working environment, as well as an overview of supporting measures for

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difficult situations.

Fact sheet - Managing Complaints Approach —

A step by step guide of how to best achieve resolution for matters of conflict in the workplace.

Fact sheet - Workplace Behaviour

This fact sheet has been created to support the Positive and Productive Workplace Policy and provide further definitions, guidance and information to focus on a workforce that is genuinely committed to promoting and fostering a harmonious, productive and positive workplace culture.

5. An LGBTIQA+ NDIS Pathway

NDIS provides reasonable and necessary supports to more than 460,000 people with permanent and significant disability. A percentage of those people are from LGBTIQA+ communities.

The NDIA launched it’s LGBTIQA+ Strategy (external), which focuses on ensuring the NDIS is delivered in a manner that respects and takes into account the needs of LGBTIQA+ individuals to achieve full participation in the NDIS.

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LGBTIQA+ Experiences with Disability

The video below, from SBS The Feed, provides insight into the experiences of LGBTIQA+ people with disability.

Video

The video below, from SBS The Feed, explores the experiences of a couple of LGBTIQA+ people with disability. It should not be seen as a collective summary of the experiences of all LGBTIQA+ people with disability, but rather as a tool for awareness.

Closed captioning:

Closed captioning is available by clicking the cc button in the video player.

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6. Supporting a diverse LGBTIQA+ Workforce

The NDIA LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Plan (external) outlines the Agency’s commitment to creating a more inclusive workplace culture and supporting the needs of LGBTIQA+ staff.

This complements the NDIA LGBTIQA+ Strategy (external) which supports the diverse needs of our participants with disability who identify as LGBTIQA+, their families, carers and communities.

The Agency recognises there is complexity and great diversity within the LGBTIQA+ Community. To create an inclusive and culturally safe workplace, the Agency and staff must be aware and sensitive to all aspects of LGBTIQA+ identity.

The actions outlined in the NDIA LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Plan will help us to achieve outcomes that will bring about positive change and drive inclusive practice.

Our actions, words and behaviours have the potential to enhance the positive changes that are underway, and break down barriers for LGBTIQA+ people even further.

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Lesson 8 of 18

Practising inclusivity

What you can do

Australia’s workforce is one of the most diverse in the world. People come from a wide range of cultural, ethnic and socio economic backgrounds, gender identities, ages, sexual orientations, and different family responsibilities.

Valuing diversity and practicing inclusivity requires more than tolerance more than acknowledging that someone is different to you but not seeing them as equal. Inclusivity moves beyond tolerance to acceptance to embracing, celebrating, and advocating for a lifestyle of choice.

Recognise and appreciate diversity but don’t judge it or call attention to it.

Break through the binary

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Identity

[Image not converted to Markdown – “Genderbread Person Diagram” – check the source PDF page for the actual content]

Used by — and contributed to by — countless people around the world and throughout the decades,

the Genderbread Person is a wonderful tool to break the big concept of gender into bite sized

pieces, and a great way to start an important conversation.

The Breaking Through the Binary workbook (available below in a PDF format) uses the

Genderbread Person and invites you to explore your own ‘gender ness’ along gender, sex,

attraction and identity continuums.

Use inclusive language

Research demonstrates that inclusive cultures are high performing cultures - they deliver greater performance and productivity. How we speak to and about each other influences how we treat each other, and this builds our workplace cultures.

Pronouns are words used to refer to a person rather than their name. Using a person’s preferred pronoun is an important part of respecting and supporting a person’s decision in how they choose to identify and describe their body, gender identity, and sexuality. There is a lot of information about pronouns at the My Pronouns website [external], which we encourage you to check out.

The Diversity Council of Australia has produced a Words at Work Guide (available in PDF form below) which is a terrific starting point for learning about inclusive language and communication.

Be an ally and a friend

Be a listener
Be open minded

Be Willing to Talk

Be willing to talk
Avoid physically or verbally expressing an ‘I’mok with you’ sentiment recognise and appreciate diversity without judgementor calling attention to it
Be inclusive and invite LGBTIQA+ friends to hang out with your friends and family
Don’t assume that all your friends and co workers are straight. Someone close to you could be looking for support in their coming out process. Not making assumptions will give them the space they need
Anti LGBTIQA+ comments and jokes are harmful. Let your friends, family and co workers know that you find them offensive
Confront your own prejudices and bias, even if it is uncomfortable to do so
Defend your LGBTIQA+ friends against discrimination
Know that all people, regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation, should be treated with dignity and respect

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Lesson 9 of 18

In summary

Connect

LGBTIQA+ Employee and Allies Network

Join the LGBTIQA+ Employee and Allies Network.

[redacted]

NDIA Rainbow Network

Join the NDIA Rainbow Network Group on Yammer.

RAINBOW NETWORK

Want to become an Ally for Diversity?

Visit the Diversity Allies Group on Yammer

DIVERSITY ALLIES

Feedback

Your feedback on this learning experience is very important to our continuous improvement efforts,

and in order to complete this course you are required to respond to a short survey.

Feedback Survey

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Thank you

Use this link to access the survey tool

SURVEY TOOL

[redacted] Please provide feedback via the link provided.

We all have a shared role in ensuring our workplace culture is one that allows everyone to bring their whole selves to work. Your participation in this training is a positive display of your personal commitment.

Thank you.

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Close and exit

(2) Complete the content above before moving on.

Congratulations

You have now completed this course. Select the Exit button to return to LEAP

[Image not converted to Markdown – “EXIT” – check the source PDF page for the actual content]

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Lesson 11 of 18

1. Introduction

First things first

Important information before you begin:

You’ll need approximately 30-40 minutes of time with limited distractions to complete this e-learning module.
This version of the course has been designed for those using screen reading assistive technology. Maximising your screen will give you the best result.
The videos in this module have sound so you will need headphones.
To navigate through the module, you can use either a mouse or the keyboard.
To transition between sections of this course, use the next and previous buttons that appear at the bottom of each screen.

Contact and acknowledgement information

Enquiries or suggestions about this learning material are welcome and should be directed to either the Culture and Inclusion team or the Learning & Development team via the People and Culture Service Desk.

People and Culture Service Desk

Use this button to contact the People and Culture Service Desk

[CONTACT PEOPLE AN…]

This learning material was developed by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)

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Lesson 12 of 18

2. Learning objectives

Purpose and focus of this course

Some of these terms below (such as heteronormative) may be new to you, but that’s OK. At the end of the course, you will be able to:

define the LGBTIQA+ abbreviation and a variety of other associated terminology
reflect on any personally held heteronormative or homophobic prejudices, beliefs and biases
distinguish between sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexuality
identify opportunities to enhance your LGBTIQA+ inclusivity practice at work.

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Lesson 13 of 18

3. Self Reflection

Understanding prejudice and unconscious bias

Heterosexism and heteronormativity (defined below) are attitudes, biases, and discrimination in favour of opposite sex sexuality and relationships. It is so deeply ingrained in our society we often hardly even notice it.

Heterosexuality is the romantic, intimate or sexual attraction between people of the opposite sex, or gender. People may engage in diverse sexual relationships, reinforcing that sexuality can be seen as a continuum. This is why it may be more useful to talk about our bodies, our genders and our relationships rather than where we sit on the diverse continuum of sexuality.

A heteronormative view assumes that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation or normal way of behaving. Heteronormativity is often linked to heterosexism, homophobia and biphobia. While heteronormative language should be avoided, it needs to be understood that many transgender and intersex people are heterosexual.

The ‘Lean In’ activity below will help identify any prejudices or unconscious biases you may not be aware of and give you ideas about things you can do to be supportive of the LGBTIQA+ community.

Lean in

This is a self reflective activity only, there is no need to share the outcomes with anybody. We invite you to lean into any discomfort you may feel. Select yes or no to each of the statements that follow and review the summary of how inclusive your behaviour has been.

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If you are using a screen reader, turn on the forms mode functionality and use the tab key to access the radio buttons, the select button and the continue button.

Continue

Sorry (not sorry) if that stung a little

Introspection is all about self examination for growth. It involves analysing yourself, looking at your own personality and actions, and considering your own motivations.

The number of affirmative or negative responses you had in this activity is somewhat irrelevant. The action you choose to take and the changes you choose to make is what matters most.

We invite you to engage fully with the information in this course and hope that it serves as a positive catalyst for change for a truly inclusive workplace.

Video

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The video below, from Vodafone, explores the prejudices that LGBTIQA+ people might face in the

workplace.

[Video Placeholder]

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Lesson 14 of 18

4. Why is LGBTIQA+ inclusivity important?

For equity and freedom from discrimination

We know that people in the LBGTIQA+ community continue to face discrimination in many areas of life, despite decades of equal opportunity laws.

The PDF document that follows explores a number of key issues faced by the LGBTIQA+ communities.

Source: https://www.humanrights.gov.au

[PDF](Key issues for LGBTIQA - Accessible version.pdf) Key issues for LGBTIQA - Accessible version.pdf 30 KB

Improved visibility = inclusion = equality

While progress has been made, many in the LBGTIQA+ community still worry that revealing their sexuality, gender identity or intersex status at work will have negative consequences and many choose not to disclose this at work. They hide their private lives from colleagues and clients for fear of discrimination, homophobia, exclusion or in case they are overlooked for valuable promotions.

Evading questions or ’self editing’ about family life can be like dodging bullets if you think that revealing your sexuality will make work relations difficult. LGBTIQA+ people are very aware of the fact that we live in a heteronormative society. Transgender people, whose sexuality often has

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There is value in diversity

Valuing and embracing workplace diversity and inclusion provides benefits such as higher staff engagement, improved performance, greater innovation, retention of talent, improved staff wellbeing and lower levels of unacceptable behaviour such as harassment and discrimination.

It’s the law

Sex Discrimination Act 1984

Equal Opportunity and Anti Discrimination Legislation

Legislation such as the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. It is also against the law to discriminate against someone because of their lawful sexual activity and physical features.

More information on State and Territory legislation can be sourced via the Australian Human Rights Commission website.