Making your legal practice LGBTI+ friendly

The Law Council of Australia is committed towards promoting full and equal participation across the legal profession by ensuring LGBTI+ people feel included, safe and comfortable in their workplace, and are not discriminated against. The Law Council has and continues to contribute to debate and law reform concerning freedom from discrimination, as seen in our various publications, releases and submissions.

A note on language

LGBTI+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex. The ‘+’ can include other letters, including Q (Queer or Questioning), A (Asexual), or P (Pansexual). The acronym is intended to be inclusive of a diverse group of people based on sex characteristics, intersex status, gender expression and sexual orientation.

This is partly because the issues concerning sex characteristics, intersex status, gender expression and sexual orientation can be very different. We adopt the outlook of Pride in Diversity, who acknowledge that ‘terminology can be contentious, but we also understand the importance of a consistent language for employers. We use the acronym LGBTI as a representative term for our community. We do not in practice, education, service delivery or intention exclude any one identity or person from within our community’.

Out for Australia has a number of helpful free resources, including A Word on Language, which introduces and explains some key terms.

Your responsibility

Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) it is unlawful to discriminate against someone on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. Organisational policies, processes and training should be reviewed to ensure they do not discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation, sex and/or gender identity or intersex status. Importantly, beyond ensuring no discrimination, organisations should seek to make their workplaces truly inclusive of all people, including LGBTI+ people.

Why it’s important

It is important for workplaces to consider how they can support LGBTI+ people to feel safe and comfortable in their workplace. According to BeyondBlue, those in the LGBTI+ community are more likely to suffer depression and anxiety and experience higher rates of suicide and self harm than the rest of the population. This is linked to discrimination, prejudice, abuse and exclusion that LGTBI+ people often experience. An LGBTI+ employee may be one of few LGBTI+ people at an organisation, especially if they work in a small firm or in a regional or rural practice. This can contribute to a sense of isolation and exclusion.

Moreover, members of the LGBTI+ community may be more likely to experience intersectionality, if they feel affected by multiple threats of overlapping discrimination (for example, homophobia and racism). There is some useful guidance on this in the Out for Australia resource, Stereotypes and Intersectionality.

How to make your workplace LGBTI+ inclusive and friendly

Organisations can use a range of measures to make their workplaces more inclusive and safe for LGBTI+ people. These include things like inclusive policies, procedures, support networks, mentoring opportunities, training and workshops. Below are some examples of measures to help improve LGBTI+ inclusiveness in the workplace. While many of these measures are simple and easily achievable for all, some may be difficult for smaller employers to implement due to resourcing; however, there may be industry-wide options that can be leveraged or joined to assist in this regard.

Welcoming strategies

• Include a statement on your website that says your workplace ‘welcomes people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and intersex variations.
• Consider the options available for selecting gender on any forms individuals are required to complete on joining the organisation, and ensure that there is at least an ‘other’ options outside the usual gender binary of ‘male/female’, and also ensure that the field is an optional field. Further information about collecting personal records regarding sex characteristics, intersex status or gender expression can be found in the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender.

Mentoring programs and support networks

• Establish an LGBTI+ support network in your organisation, which meets regularly, has management support and participation, assists with identification and implementation of measures to improve the inclusiveness of the workplace for LGBTI+ people, and offers networking opportunities as well.
• Joining an organisation such as Pride in Diversity will give your organisation and employees access to networking events and a range of information which will assist you in establishing effective internal mentoring and support, whether from members of the LGBTI+ community or from allies.
• Out for Australia offers a mentoring program that connects LGBTI+ people who are current students, recent graduates and young professionals with LGBTI+ people and their allies whom are more established professionals. Matches are made based on mentee industry interests and on the goals identified in their application form. The organisation also engages in outreach in regional and rural areas.
• There may also be industry, business or community networks for LGBTI+ people which your organisation can join or support. For example, LIVout, an initiative of the Law Institute of Victoria, hosts events and networking periodically.

Training sessions

• Engage a professional to provide mandatory LGBTI+ awareness and education sessions for the entire workplace. Inclusion starts with understanding, and teaching people about what is behind the acronym, the challenges presented to LGBTI+ people in the workplace and community, why inclusion is important and what inclusion means (and doesn’t mean). This is critical to the success of any inclusion program.
• Provide dedicated EEO contact officers for LGBTI+ people and issues, and provide training for those officers.
• Provide a training module during orientation for new employees on LGBTI+ awareness and inclusion, and ensure LGBTI+ awareness and inclusion is part of any annual workplace inclusion and anti-discrimination training.
• Ensure that other training includes elements relating to LGBTI+ people, where possible. For example, unconscious bias training should specifically address stereotype and other unconscious biases that affect LGBTI+ people.
• All of the above training should include information about what the organisation’s policies are in relation to workplace inclusion of and what to do when someone uses derogatory, discriminatory and hurtful language in the workplace.

Workplace policies and procedures

• Conduct a review of all workplace policies to check for discrimination and inclusion. When reviewing for inclusion, remove discriminatory language or policies, and also seek to actively use inclusive language. For example, where there are references to gender, ensure all genders are included, where there are references to spouses or partners, include language explaining that those terms are inclusive of partners of LGBTI+ people, etc. Examples of policies where there will be good opportunities to clearly include LGBTI+ people include:
   
  • anti-discrimination and inclusion policies;
  • parental leave policies;
  • any policies for health or mental health leave;
  • domestic violence policies; and
  • personal leave and carer policies.
• Adopt a best practice policy for support and leave for an employee coming out or transitioning.
• Provide dedicated EEO contact officers for LGBTI+ people and issues, and provide training for those officers.
• Organisations may consider making adjustments in the workplace to accommodate the needs of particular employees or to break down systemic barriers. Any adjustments should be made in consultation with the employees concerned. For more information about how adjustments relate to employees who are intersex, please refer to the Darlington Statement and Organisation Intersex International Australia and Pride in Diversity’s Employers’ Guide to Intersex Inclusion.

Leadership within the organisation and broader community

• Show leadership organisation-wide and within groups by encouraging (and including KPIs to require, where possible) leaders to participate in all relevant training and lead by example.
• Openly and warmly support and sponsor, where possible, community LGBTI+ initiatives and events.
• Support employees to participate and engage in community LGBTI+ initiatives and events on behalf of the organisation.
• Provide services in kind or pro bono services to support LGBTI+ rights and initiatives.

This webpage provides general information only about the subject matter covered. It is not intended, nor should it be relied on, as providing legal advice. The Law Council encourages organisations, employers and employees to seek their own independent legal advice if required.

Last Updated on 25/10/2019

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