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PrintPrice Waterhouse Cooper named most gay friendly
Pride in Diversity reveals its top 10 gay friendly workplaces.
Jacki Weaver and Michael Kirby present PwC representatives with their award.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been named Australia’s most gay-friendly employer for 2012 at a special event recognising workplace support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
The Australian arm of the global professional services and auditing firm topped a list of 10 organisations which were recognised today at a special luncheon in Sydney organised by Pride In Diversity, Australia’s first and only employer support program for the inclusion of LGBT people in the workplace.
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.
PwC was named Employer of the Year and it’s Glee@PwC group was named LGBT Employee Network Group of the Year. Macquarie University and the University of Western Australia shared the award for Highest Ranking Public Sector Employer. Deutsche Bank received the Most Improved award.
The 2012 Top Ten Australian employers for LGBT people are (in ranked order), PwC, KPMG, IBM Australia, Accenture Australia, Goldman Sachs, Lend Lease, Macquarie University and University of Western Australia (equal 7th), Australian Federal Police and Chevron Australia.
Speakers at the sold-out event at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney included Pride In Diversity patron the Hon. Michael Kirby and Academy Award-nominated actress and Australian entertainment doyen Jacki Weaver.
Pride In Diversity is a program developed in partnership by ACON – NSW’s and Australia’s largest community-based LGBT health organisation – Diversity Council Australia – the independent, not-for-profit diversity advisor to business – and London-based LGB advocacy group Stonewall UK.
Pride In Diversity Director Dawn Hough says the luncheon and awards, which take place every year on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17, provide a valuable platform for organisations to highlight the quality of their LGBT workplace diversity practices.
“Pride In Diversity congratulates all the organisations recognised today on their significant achievement and for showing great leadership in the area of diversity and inclusion,” Ms Hough says.
“Pride In Diversity assists organisations bridge the gap between LGBT employees and management, and today’s awards are an important opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the changes happening in our workplaces – and in our society – that make LGBT people feel like they belong. I encourage other organisations and workplaces to show their support for LGBT people and participate in next year’s awards by making a submission to our Australian Workplace Equality Index program.”
Mr Kirby and Ms Weaver congratulated the winning organisations on their achievement. “It’s important that we don’t underestimate the impact that discrimination and homophobic bullying has on individuals both physically and emotionally, and I commend all Pride in Diversity members and Index participants for their commitment to this area of workplace diversity practice,” Mr Kirby said.
splash image: fooyoh.com
