Hays celebrating Bronze Status in the AWEI

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We are thrilled to announce that Hays Australia has achieved Bronze Tier Status in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), an esteemed LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Award. This recognition underscores our commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

What is the AWEI?

The AWEI is an external benchmark facilitated by Pride in Diversity which examines actions and strategies across 10 focus areas that enable LGBTQ+ inclusion and drives best practice across many sectors and industries in Australia and allows organisations to take a strategic approach to enable LGBTQ+ inclusion in their workplaces.

A Testament to Our Efforts

In August 2023, we announced our intention to achieve Bronze Tier Status, and reaching this milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our colleagues. The following initiatives have been instrumental in helping us achieve this accreditation, and importantly, enabling us to advance LGBTQIA+ inclusion at Hays and the communities that we operate in:

Our Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG): Our Pride ERG has been instrumental in creating a supportive community for LGBTQIA+ employees and allies. Through education, training and promoting opportunities for connection and engagement, the group has fostered a respectful and inclusive environment.
Inclusive Policies: We have progressively reviewed and updated our policies to ensure inclusivity for all. This included explicitly highlighting our parental leave benefits that are available for everyone, including LGBTQIA+ families, updating our dress policy to support trans and gender-diverse employees, providing travel advice specific for LGBTQIA+ employees in our travel and flexible working policies and updating our Equal Opportunity, Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy.
LGBTQIA+ Training: We have regularly promoted LGBTQIA+ inclusion training to our colleagues, and our Human Resource Business Partners have received specialised LGBTQ+ training for HR professionals provided by our partner, Pride in Diversity.
Resource Hub and Assets: Our newly launched resource hub provides valuable information and support for our LGBTQIA+ colleagues, further enhancing our inclusive culture and signposting avenues for support for our LGBTQIA+ colleagues.
Fundraising and Visibility: We raised funds for LGBTQIA+ young people through the sale of our Hays Pride Pins and created reusable ‘Rainbow Kits’ for our teams across Australia and New Zealand. These kits include pride progress flag bunting and posters to celebrate Pride and other significant days.
Community Engagement: We participated in the PRIDE in Employment Job Expo in June and our Pride Co-Leads Renee Tyndale and Michael Psalios were invited guest speakers at a webinar where they shared their insights for how employees can be more inclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community. Hays also sponsored the Leaders Forum as part of Top End Pride programming in Darwin and hosted a Pride in Diversity Roundtable and networking event in Sydney.

Looking Ahead

Our journey towards inclusivity does not stop here. Some of our future plans include our Pride Co-Leads presenting at the Pride in Practice Conference in November where we will be sharing our insights on developing partnerships to create broader change, and developing a Gender Affirmation Policy.

We are incredibly proud of this achievement and grateful for the dedication and support of everyone involved.

Explore our current career opportunities

Everyone is welcome here. By joining Hays you’ll be part of an inclusive culture that celebrates diversity, recognising every individual for their unique differences.

We invite people of all genders, ages, cultures, abilities, backgrounds and experiences to apply. This includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people who belong to LGBTQIA+ community, neurodiverse individuals, and people with disabilities.

About this author

Bernadette (she/her), Senior Manager Diversity Equity and Inclusion ANZ, began working with Hays in 2022 and has over 15 years leadership and human resources experience. Bernadette is passionate about delivering innovative, human-centred and contemporary people strategies that provide an exceptional employee experience and achieve diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.