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The University of Western Australia was recognised this week as one of the nation's best workplaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people in Australia's first Top 10 Employers List for LGBT employees.

The awards were determined using Pride In Diversity's Australian Workplace Equality Index, a free service provided annually by Pride In Diversity that evaluates and benchmarks LGBT inclusiveness in Australian workplaces.

UWA was judged in equal place with Curtin University.  Macquarie and Queensland Universities were also in the Top 10 list, which was headed by technology company IBM.

UWA's Acting Director of Human Resources, Jenny Robertson, said the award was made in recognition of the programs run through the University's Equity and Diversity Unit which promotes and supports UWA's vision to provide an inclusive environment for staff, students and the broader community.

"We aim to create an environment which celebrates diversity and is free from all forms of discrimination and harassment," Ms Robertson said.  "We want an environment which recognises, makes use of and values the knowledge, abilities, skills and ideas of all our people, irrespective of race, ethnicity or religion, gender or sexual orientation, education level, socio-economic background, age, disability or family responsibility.

"As with many of the University's achievements in the area of equity and diversity, there have been several sexuality/gender identity strategies that have gained national attention and are now being emulated within the higher education sector, such as our Ally Network ."

Media references

Jenny Robertson (UWA Acting Director Human Resources)  (+61 8)  6488 3223
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716