Breakout Sessions Monday

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Monday 30th November

11:10am Breakout Sessions



Pride in Diversity’s introductory session to LGBTI workplace inclusion covers the importance of creating respectful, safe and inclusive workplaces that foster teamwork, innovation and high-performance. This session demystifies the LGBTI acronym, provides comfort around inclusive language and terminology use and examines a number of interesting research studies including the impact of the workplace environment on LGBTI employees who are not ‘out’ about their sexuality or gender identity at work. The session is the perfect preparation for the Engaging Allies for Change workshop tomorrow.

World-leading universities and research institutions, such as CSIRO and ANU, have needed to maintain leadership not just in research, but also in diversity. The value of growing an organisational culture with a diversity of thought and inclusion of all people has gained strategic prominence for many innovation driven organisations. ANU and CSIRO have each recently undertaken journeys to place LGBTI issues on the agenda and establish LGBTI and Ally staff networks. This session aims to share the approaches and lessons learned in striving to get LGBTI issues on the corporate agenda and supporting the inclusion of all staff. Key insights will cover: where to start, growing a network, common barriers, establishing governance, seeking legitimacy, and maintaining momentum during times of change.

This session will look at how organisations can work with value conflicts around faith, culture and sexual orientation. Discussion topics will include:

  • Why gay and lesbian people from faith backgrounds are one of the highest risk groups within the LGBTI community
  • Diversity and Inclusion: What it really means
  • Building bridges to create spaces for dialogue as opposed to conflict

With diversity an ever increasing need in the workplace, Dameyon Bonson, a Mangarayi and Torres Strait Islander man believes that it is only through inclusive practices that this can this be fully realised. If an inclusive world can provide better health outcomes, so too can an inclusive workplace. In 2013, Dameyon founded Black Rainbow Living Well for Indigenous LGBTI Suicide Prevention and Wellbeing. In this session, Dameyon will draw on his lived professional experience in the corporate, government and NGO sector, as an Indigenous gay man, to provide workplaces with the absolute fundamentals of healthy diversity in the workplace.

12:15pm Breakout Sessions


The University of WA has been nationally recognised as one of the forerunners of best practice around LGBTI-inclusion. The University’s flagship ALLY Program has now been emulated across 20+ universities in the Australasian higher education sector. In 2015, the University completed a comprehensive Functional Review process in order to better align business processes with UWA Vision 2020. It was therefore opportune to reflect, refresh and renew our LGBTI-inclusion efforts. Despite common threats that adversely impact ‘longevity’ in this space (LGBTI inclusion seen as the poor cousin to gender and race; Inclusion efforts often scaled back in tight budgetary circumstances; sexual orientation and gender identity ‘uncomfortable’ and prone to deep unconscious bias etc.), the UWA Strategy has flourished. This session will explore both the critical success factors and key challenges/’tensions’ faced along the 15 year journey marked by sustained engagement in this space.

In this awareness session specifically about LBTQ women, we discuss the unique challenges of being a woman with diverse sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace today. We explore  research of recent years, and hear the voice of women across the country, deepening the  insight into the lived experience of being LBTQ in the workplace today. We will discuss how everyone, regardless of orientation or gender identity, can make a real difference and have a sustainable impact in creating truly inclusive cultures while increasing the visibility of female role models.

In 2016 the SGLBA celebrates 35 years connecting LGBTIQ businesses and professionals, and their allies. This session looks briefly at where the SGLBA has come from, and how it remains relevant in an environment of increasing inclusion and accepted diversity. To deliver our members the most value, we must provide them with opportunities to grow their business beyond the LGBTIQ community – and promoting the importance of authentic workplaces and an understanding of the diversity agenda for sole traders, entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses. These issues are not restricted to the top-end of town.

a Lendlease facilitated workshop investigating ways to activate LGBTI inclusion on construction sites This session draws on Lendlease’s 2014 piloting of the first-of-its-kind LGBTI Construction Site Network. Lendlease is eager to learn more about community and Australian workplace views of how to achieve LGBTI inclusion in the construction and property sector. It is intended as highly interactive, so please come with your thinking cap on, it will be a collaborative workshop. This is an interactive breakout session designed to achieve two outcomes: 1.provide an informative overview of how Lendlease is working to bridge the gap of inclusion between office and construction-site based LGBTI employees; and 2. Facilitate a collaborative workshop focussed on how the construction sector can achieve authentic LGBTI inclusion

 

 

2:15pm Breakout Sessions


This session will explore the evolution of the ANZ Pride Network, from a grass roots employee movement, to a structured global network with significant business support.

A panel discussion, with Q&A, will provide organisations with some practical hints and tips in building business commitment, engaging with senior leaders, and engaging with the staff, customers and the community in support of LGBTI issues.

The panel will be made up of senior leaders from across ANZ (and possibly other organisations), and cover our successes in the areas of policy, training and awareness, our partnership with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and our newest work focusing on transgender and intersex employees.

What do tertiary students and young professionals look for in prospective employers? What unique issues do they face by virtue of identifying as LGBTIQ? Is there a disconnect between what you think they want from their employer and what they actually value? Out for Australia seeks to support and mentor LGBTIQ students as they navigate their way through the early stages of their career. They strive to break down barriers for LGBTIQ people entering the workplace through their national Mentoring Program, Womens Program and development & networking events. Drawing on these experiences, this session will explore what it really means to be an LGBTIQ employer of choice through the eyes of tertiary students and young professionals.

HSBC will be hosting a break out session to get you thinking around how you can partner internally for maximum impact. Many employee networks face limited budgets and are staffed by employees with time and capacity constraints, so collaborating effectively for mutual benefit is critical for success. By the end of the session, you will hear what HSBC has done to date in Australia, and through a collective brainstorming session, share experience across each of our organisations.

This session will focus on the development of Key Assets as an inclusive and diverse small employer, highlighting the “wins” we have experienced and the roadblocks that come from being a small not-for-profit with a large geographical footprint in Australia and New Zealand.
We will explore the changes we have made from our first AWEI submission in 2014 to now and our plans to form our first combined LGBTI & Ally network group in Australia for employees, our foster carers and children/young people.

3:45am Breakout Sessions


Law firms are increasingly active in LGBTI Workplace inclusion and are finding new and innovative ways to engage staff and clients in this space. This panel of our most active law firm members will discuss their approaches to best practice and to share their success stories and the lessons learned. This session will provide a unique insight into inclusion practices at law firms and will have relevance across industries, including professional services. The session will particularly be of interest to end users of legal services.

Family Planning NSW is the NSW partner of the Safe Schools Coalition Australia. The national coalition is dedicated to helping schools be safer and more inclusive for same sex attracted, intersex and gender diverse students, school staff and families. We are dedicated to creating environments where all students, teachers and families can feel safe and be themselves. All students need to feel included at school – only then can they be engaged with school and do well.
In this session you will hear about the work Safe Schools Coalition does with member schools, including the professional development for school staff, consultation and advice for schools on supporting SSAIGD students, how we engage with students and some of the resources we use.
This session will be useful for anyone interested in education, including families, education staff and young people.

This session will shine a light on the Bisexual Community, the “B” in LGBTI. Attendees to this breakout will gain insight into what it means to be bisexual, understand how the dualistic nature of our society affects perceptions of bisexuality and how to be an effective ally to bisexual people in your organisation. This interactive session will also focus on inclusive language, best practice in the workplace, recent studies and training tools to better educate staff.