The goals of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 are to promote and improve gender equality in employment and the workplace, and to help organisations identify and address gender equality issues. Macquarie has continued to be recognised for our progress and commitment in this area and has held a WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation since 2019.

Staff members can comment on the report by emailing workplacediversityinclusion@mq.edu.au or contacting the Agency directly. Visit the WGEA website for more information about workplace gender equality reporting.

Macquarie’s efforts to tangibly embed equity, diversity and inclusion within our systems, processes and culture were recognised in 2022 with re-accreditation as a Workplace Gender Equality Agency Employer of Choice, a Gold-level award in the Australian Workplace Equality Index Awards for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, Flex Careers FlexReady Certification for our progressive approach to flexible work, and membership of the Champions of Change Coalition.

It is a good time to celebrate these achievements and highlight the areas where we are doing well. Macquarie has made good progress towards a more gender-balanced academic staff pipeline – particularly at Level C where we have seen a 9 per cent increase over recent years – largely through more equitable recruitment and promotion practices. In our 2022 Inclusion@Work survey results, the majority of staff reported being in an inclusive/somewhat inclusive team (85 per cent) and having an inclusive/somewhat inclusive manager (80 per cent).

It is also important that we acknowledge the changes we are seeing are not enough to achieve real and sustainable impact for gender equality, and the rate of progress is much too slow. Women are under-represented in senior leadership roles and at senior academic levels (Level D 39 per cent and Level E 32 per cent), and we have pay gaps at senior academic levels where discretionary allowances are a key contributing factor.

The factors leading to unequal workplace opportunities and outcomes are complex and varied and therefore difficult to change, however we must and can do better on gender equity. Gender equity is an issue for the entire University community. We will only achieve our goal of a balanced, diverse and inclusive workforce if we continue to build equity, diversity and inclusion principles into everything we do, and consistently practise behaviours that contribute to a safe, respectful and inclusive experience for all.

In 2023, the University will prioritise a number of projects critical to creating real and sustainable progress towards gender equity. Inclusive leadership is a key priority under a new Leadership Framework currently being developed as part of the Operating Plan’s Our People Program, and an overarching plan for progressing staff and student diversity, inclusion and belonging will be launched in May. Work is also underway to build a more robust equitable remuneration framework that will help to progress our goal of eliminating the gender pay gap, and we will continue to support the successful implementation of the Flexible Work framework.

Of particular concern to me and the leadership team are the reports we have received through our Inclusion@Work survey of staff experiencing everyday exclusion because of their gender, sexuality, disability, age or cultural background. We have a zero-tolerance approach at Macquarie to any form of discrimination, bullying or sexual harassment and building a culture of inclusion is everyone’s responsibility. In 2023, under the new diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy, we will focus attention on preventing any form of discrimination, bullying or sexual harassment and on building respectful and inclusive behaviours across all areas of our University.

Gender equity is both a challenge and an enormous opportunity for our University. The progress we have made is due to the commitment and collaborative effort of many members of our community, and I thank every one of you for your contribution. My aim is for everyone in our University community to see visible, lasting change in gender equity in the coming years and I ask all of you to lend your support.

S Bruce Dowton MD
Vice-Chancellor

Celebration activities and events are planned already, with more to come during June. Check out the list below for what’s on around campus to get involved and be sure to keep an eye on the Macquarie University Students Facebook page and This Week for updates.

MQ Pride Wall

The Ally Network has launched the MQ Pride Wall – a digital installation that celebrates Macquarie’s LGBTQ+ staff and student community. Come and check it out in the Arts Precinct Intercultural Foyer (Level 3, 25b Wally’s Walk) before the end of the month.

Tuesdays in June at Esc and Library Cafes

Cupcakes $4.50 Tuesdays 7, 14, 21 and 28 June. Available until sold out.

16 June Thursday 5.30pm Drag Queen Trivia at Ubar

Drag Queen Charlamaine is coming to host trivia! Entry is free and there will be great prizes. Gather your friends, family and colleagues! Register now

15 – 17 June Pride Month Night Festival at MUSAC

The Sport & Aquatic Centre is having great fun with themed group fitness classes. They’ve had one already and there’s more to come: 15 June at 5.30pm, 16 June at 5.30pm, 17 June at 6.30pm. Keep an eye on their social media to book your spot.

22 June Social Sport Competition Pride Month round

Players and officials will be donning their rainbow attire, with rainbow socks and armbands supplied to teams by the University.

26 – 30 June Indigenous National University Games

This multi-sport indigenous event is held annually between 43 Australian universities and tertiary institutions. Walanga Muru athletes will be wearing Pride armbands for the tournament. Follow the team on Facebook.

Throughout the month, student residents of our on-campus accommodation will be having fun with rainbow pancake making, rainbow milkshake making and face-painting, while receiving rainbow cupcakes and rainbow facemasks.

There’s going to be plenty of great photos by the end of the month, which we look forward to sharing.

Find out more about LGBTQ+ inclusion, what it means at Macquarie to be an Ally, and how to join the Ally network:

Workplace Diversity & Inclusion

Be Brave, Be Strong, Be You – be your authentic self.

At the Wednesday night event in Melbourne, Macquarie was also one of only five Australian sporting organisations to achieve the Gold Tier in the Pride in Sport Index (PSI), a national benchmarking instrument used to assess LGBTQ inclusion within Australian sport.

“I am really proud that we have won these awards. Universities play an important role in the Australian sporting landscape, especially when it comes to supporting anyone who wants to participate in sport and wants to feel welcome to do so.  We are blazing a trail for other universities to follow,” says Campus Life CEO, Pete Boyle (pictured below with fellow staff members, Brett Morley and Sophie Curtis).

Pete says that Campus Life don’t do this work to receive awards, but the recognition validates the efforts of very dedicated staff and students.  The work done over the past two to three years has positively contributed to how the University designs and delivers inclusion strategies across the entire University.

“We are proud to create safe spaces for everyone, but our work isn’t done.  We will continue to try and be better and we remain committed to ensuring that sport is available to all. All Macquarie people can lead happy, healthy and active lives, while being exactly who they are,” says Pete.

The annual Australian Pride in Sport Awards brings sporting organisations from across the country together to celebrate the work and effort towards ensuring LGBTQ people are more included in all aspects of sport. Pride in Sport is the sport inclusion arm of ACON, and the world’s first and only membership and benchmarking program specifically designed to help include people with diverse genders and sexualities in sport.

The Pride in Sport Awards acknowledge sporting organisations’ achievements and hard work in increasing LGBTQ inclusivity across all areas of their operations and programs, with a range of sporting endeavours honoured, from individuals and coaches, to media, and community sporting teams, as well as state and national sporting bodies. Sporting Organisation of the Year is awarded to the organisation that records the highest scoring across all sporting bodies that enter. Macquarie University has been an active member of Pride in Sport since 2019 and has now won Gold two years in a row.

Find out more about Macquarie University Sport’s LGBTQ+ inclusion, including resources and their inclusion policy.

Macquarie University Workplace Diversity & Inclusion Ally Network intranet resources and information.

Pictured above in main photo: Macquarie University’s Brett Morley, Manager – University Sport (at front, crouching), Sophie Curtis, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Lead (behind Brett in black top), and Pete Boyle, CEO – Campus Life (third from right). Photographed with other 2022 winners from around Australia.

This is Macquarie’s second consecutive Employer of Choice citation, and it affirms the University’s long-term commitment to workplace gender equity, diversity and inclusion.

Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton says the University’s commitment to leadership opportunities for women, flexible work and support for staff with caring responsibilities contributed to the recognition.

“I am very proud of this achievement. Our approach to gender equity has been highly collaborative, involving colleagues across the University. Our staff and the leadership are helping shape a more inclusive workplace culture, with equitable access to the rewards, resources and opportunities that will truly benefit everyone and make Macquarie a diverse and inclusive workplace for all,” says Professor Dowton.

“While we celebrate this award, I am mindful there is much to be done. This citation brings a responsibility to strengthen our efforts towards real and sustainable equality. This is particularly important in response to the disproportionate challenges and burdens faced by women as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Macquarie is one of seven citation recipients from the Higher Education category and one of 120 organisations to be recognised nationally, placing the University firmly among the nation’s progressive organisations when it comes to gender equity.

The Employer of Choice scheme run by WGEA recognises that gender equality is integral to well-managed leading organisations. To achieve this citation the University has closely examined six key areas of leadership, pay equity, support for carers, mainstreaming flexible work, preventing harassment and creating a gender-balanced workforce.

WGEA Director Mary Wooldridge says the citation recognises Macquarie as among the best employers in Australia.

“These organisations have better support structures in place for working families; stronger actions to address pay inequalities; and strategic recruitment and promotion practices that encourage full participation of women at work,” Ms Wooldridge says.

With Macquarie having recently submitted its annual report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, the Vice-Chancellor Professor S. Bruce Dowton provides staff with an update on our progress towards gender equity.

Many of you would be familiar with our Workplace Gender Equity Strategy Towards Gender Equity 2.0 which cemented diversity and inclusion as a key institutional focus for Macquarie. It remains an important personal focus for me as Vice-Chancellor.

Since the launch of the strategy, the higher education sector has faced significant challenges due to COVID-19 and other external factors. In keeping with our joint universities and sector partners commitment of June 2020, we have taken deliberate action to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on our goal of gender equity at Macquarie.

We continue to make significant progress across many of the action points in our strategy and have embedded diversity and inclusion principles within a number of our organisational processes in the last 12 months. I wanted to share with you some of the highlights:

• The success of our strategy is deeply dependent on engaging staff at all levels to progress diversity and inclusion. We have seen increased engagement from staff across all areas of the University in the last year, driven by the establishment of our MQ Inclusion Committee and eight local faculty and portfolio Diversity and Inclusion Committees. These committees have been given a broad remit to actively drive progress across all areas of diversity and inclusion and I am confident they will successfully accelerate our progress and success against our targets. We have also seen a significant increase in membership of our Ally Network and it is encouraging to see so many staff taking this active step to create a more inclusive campus.
• I have noticed a significant shift in the conversations around diversity and inclusion at Macquarie. Our ‘fixing the system’ approach has resonated with staff and, in many cases, extended beyond gender equity. A broad range of initiatives are being established to progress inclusion across the University, including a project in Academic Senate to understand and improve the diversity of membership, and the organisation of a conference focusing on inclusive teaching practice.
• The positive impacts of the Strategy’s recruitment and promotion model continue to be visible throughout the academic pipeline – particularly at Levels B and C. There was an almost 100 per cent increase in applications from women in the period 2017-2020, compared to the previous four-year period, and application rates from women have been in line with – or higher than – the available pool at each academic level under the new promotion model.
• Guided by recommendations from MQ Inclusion, inclusive principles have been embedded into our academic workplace change process. Actions included an analysis of diversity data at each stage of the process, and a progressive approach to assessment of achievement relative to opportunity. Training was provided to decision panels and impacted staff. Lessons learnt from this process are now being considered for other change processes.
• There has been an increase in the proportion of men accessing primary carers leave over the past five years at Macquarie, in part due to increased communication of support available and a focus on sharing case studies of male parents and carers.
• Macquarie has been recognised publicly as a leader on gender equity, receiving several external awards including the esteemed WGEA Employer of Choice citation.
• While COVID-19 has presented many challenges and negative impacts across the world, one of the positives has been monumental advance of flexible work practices for all staff. We must take this opportunity to embed flexibility in our ways of working, which has been taken up by the Future of Work project under the Our People stream of the Operating Plan.

While we should all be proud of this progress, there are several priority areas that I will ensure are progressed over the next year:

• Addressing bullying or harassment within our community is a priority for me and the leadership team. We have zero tolerance at Macquarie for any form of discrimination, bullying or sexual harassment and building a culture of inclusion is everyone’s responsibility. I implore everyone in our staff community to challenge bullying or inappropriate behaviours wherever they see them and work together to ensure our community is one of mutual support. The University has a Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response policy and an online training module for all staff, and we are currently reviewing our Discrimination, Bullying and Harassment Prevention and Response Policy.
• I am committed to ensuring our leadership roles reflect the diversity of our community and are gender balanced. This requires a continued focus on equitable career progression and development, and recruitment processes. We have seen significant progress resulting from the new promotion model for academic staff and will continue our work towards gender balance in leadership roles.
• We will continue to embed inclusive leadership as an expectation for all managers and provide training and resources to build capability in this area.
• We still have an organisational pay gap, and I am determined to see it reduce. We will be developing a remuneration policy and will take targeted action to address any identified gaps.
• To strengthen our commitment, we are proposing a new strategy to guide our collective efforts towards Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, and I look forward to sharing further details on this in the coming months. I welcome any feedback on how we can make further progress towards true inclusion and gender equity at Macquarie.

As I highlighted in our Operating Plan, our people are key to our success as an institution. We must have the humility to recognise areas where we need to be open to change, and commit to that change to ensure everyone in our diverse community has the opportunity to belong and fully contribute to our shared successful future.

With many of us celebrating International Women’s Day on Sunday and attending this week’s Gender Equity Week events, we can take the opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made as an institution towards equality and inclusion. We have much to be proud of – in the last 12 months Macquarie has received several national awards in recognition of our commitment, and innovative approach, to creating a culture of inclusion.  

One significant achievement for Macquarie was our recognition last month as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equity (EOCGE). This citation is awarded by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency – a Federal Government agency helping Australian employers comply with the requirements of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.

Of the 2 million+ businesses in Australia, only 119 can claim EOCGE status in 2020 – placing Macquarie firmly among the nation’s progressive companies when it comes to gender equity. Within the education sector specifically, there are only 13 Australian universities with EOCGE status in 2020, with no Group of Eight universities currently on the list.

Employers applying for EOCGE are required to address an extensive set of criteria in focus areas covering:

• leadership, strategy and accountability
• pay equity
• support for caring
• mainstreaming flexible work
• prevention of harassment and discrimination.

Macquarie’s application highlighted successful Gender Equity initiatives and measures, including:

• Each member of our Executive Group has a KPI to progress gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Our Carers Hub provides a central point of information and resources for parents and carers at Macquarie.
• We have established targets for reducing the gender pay gap.
• We recently launched mandatory all-staff training on discrimination, bullying and harassment prevention and response, and new student and staff sexual harassment prevention and response policies.

The citation is awarded for a period of two years, with the University due to re-apply for EOCGE status next year.

Learn more about Macquarie’s other recent achievements in Gender Equity:

• In February, we became the only Australian university to hold two Bronze SAGE Athena Swan awards (see Snapped On), recognising our actions in addressing gender inequality in STEMM.
• In December, we were named Australia’s best university workplace for new dads in the second annual Top 20 Workplaces for Dads survey, with Macquarie being the only university among the top ten.

“Feedback has taught us that gender equity is still perceived by some as a woman’s issue. This is not how I see diversity and inclusion at Macquarie.”

– Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton, in his Gender Equity Week invitation to staff.

There’s no doubt that our Workplace Gender Equity Strategy is driving significant positive change at Macquarie. The efforts of staff across our University – all genders, academic and professional, across our diverse range of cultures and beliefs – have this month seen us recognised as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency – an effort we can all be proud of.

Though there is much progress to celebrate, there is still much work to be done. Research shows that diverse and inclusive teams are more innovative, and that equitable and inclusive workplaces benefit everyone. However, this cannot be achieved without everyone’s input and a commitment to drive change along the way.

“Since men still occupy the overwhelming majority of senior academic roles, it’s essential for them to engage in changing the system and to provide a safe space for pointing out inequities or discrimination.”
– Professor Mike Steel, Head, Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Ahead of Gender Equity Week (7-12 March) we spoke to three male academics about how they have been active advocates for gender equity, and why everyone at Macquarie should consider themselves part of the solution. 

As Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Professor Mike Steel is not only driven by a strong personal commitment to gender equity – it’s something that he knows is very much part of his role.

“The University has set a clear agenda and goals for gender equity, and it’s an obvious responsibility of any leader at Macquarie to reduce the barriers to equal representation and success within their team,” he says. “But if you’re a straight, white, able-bodied male – as many leaders are – there can be impediments to inclusivity that you don’t even see unless you make the effort to look.”

With Physics and Astronomy among the most gender imbalanced fields in STEM, Professor Steel says it has taken a concerted whole-of-department effort to create meaningful change.

“The overall gender balance in physical sciences really hasn’t moved that much – Australia’s first female professor of physics was only appointed in 2000,” notes Professor Steel. “But the number of women at level D and E is much higher than it was when I was a student 25 years ago and there is much more acceptance of the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and more willingness to change.”

But with gender disparity in STEM still ‘as stark as ever’, Professor Steel says it’s critical that men – particularly male leaders – get involved.

“Women have carried the bulk of the work in making change happen for too long. In our Department, women like Professors Judith Dawes, Deb Kane, Orsola De Marco, Helen Pask, and Dr Jo Dawson, for example, have been instrumental in advocating for women and other under-represented groups in this field, for many years. I’m proud that we’ve built on their example, and subsequently that of our astronomy team, to build an active department EDI committee that is diverse in gender and on many other axes.

“Since men still occupy the overwhelming majority of senior academic roles, it’s essential for them to engage in changing the system and to provide a safe space for their teams to speak up about problems. When leaders don’t create an environment that encourages that conversation, it can be difficult –­ and sometimes even career-endangering – for junior staff to raise concerns.”

He says the University’s ‘fixing the system’ approach has been a big step forward in encouraging more staff to engage with the issue of gender equity.

“I find it resonates very strongly with staff of all genders,” he says. “I think prior to this, there were men who wanted to get involved but weren’t sure how to get started. Now we’re seeing more and more men talk about EDI.”

As chair of the Faculty of Science and Engineering’s new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee, Interim Executive Dean Bernard Mans is a strong advocate for gender equity and believes that without it, we are all disadvantaged.

“Without gender balance, we are working at half (or capped) capacity. This is particularly visible in STEM. For more talent, you need more people – limiting the cohort of staff limits our success,” he says.

“Everyone needs to be part of fixing the system. Relying only on women to help fix it is also a double-penalty for women – suffering from the system and having to dedicate more time to fix it.”

While Professor Mans says Macquarie has made good progress in gender equity, there is still much work to be done.

“It is an ongoing and an every day battle. Continuously raising awareness is important and that needs to come from everyone, me included.

Having been at Macquarie for a whopping 45+ years, Professor John Croucher from the Macquarie Business School has witnessed first-hand many of the University’s significant leaps towards gender equity, including the appointment of Australia’s first and longest-serving female Vice-Chancellor Professor Di Yerbury in 1987.

Not surprisingly for a statistics expert, Professor Croucher is acutely aware of the considerable under-representation of women in senior academic positions. In fact, it was the stark imbalance he encountered as a young PhD student in the United States that made him determined to become an advocate for change.

“The chemistry department at this particular university had not employed a female professor – at any level – for thirty years,” he recalls.  “Internal memos eventually revealed shocking prejudice – many of the male professors believed women were simply incapable of fulfilling the role. I found this, of course, completely unacceptable, and it’s very important to me that we don’t ever have this ‘old guard of males’ mentality at Macquarie.”

The significant contributions by women to science is something Professor Croucher details in his book Women in Science: 100 Inspirational Lives, which he will discuss on Wednesday 11 March as part of Gender Equity Week. Register for this event on the Gender Equity Week website.

Now in its third year, Macquarie’s annual Gender Equity Week (7-12 March) coincides with International Women’s Day on 8 March. But far from being a week just for women, Gender Equity Week is an opportunity for all staff to come together and show their support for an open, diverse and supportive workplace – something we all play a role in creating.

What’s on

During Gender Equity Week, the gender balance of speakers is shifted to give a voice to women – challenging and raising awareness about gender stereotypes and biases.

And what an incredible group of speakers it will be – from Professor Catharine Lumby talking about social media as a tool for activism, to 10 Macquarie researchers whose work is shaping the world, to Professor John Croucher explaining why he decided to write his book on the ‘forgotten’ women of science, Women in Science: 100 Inspirational Lives.

Don’t miss the panel discussion on gender diversity and inclusion in sport, or your chance to hear from inspirational female leaders in Macquarie Business School’s Women Who Change the World event.

A stimulating selection of films and Macquarie TEDx talks will be screening after work throughout the week in the Campus Common, including during happy hour at Ubar.

A time for reflection

The week is also an opportunity to reflect on the University’s progress towards gender equity, says Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton in his invitation to staff.

“We can be immensely proud of our progress to date, as evidenced by the SAGE Athena Swan Bronze Award we received last year,” he says. “Awards like these recognise our strong organisational commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, our innovative approach to ‘fixing the system’ and clear evidence of its impact.

“I encourage all staff to attend Gender Equity Week, and take some time to review our progress in the Gender Equity Strategy. By working together to address the underlying causes of gender inequality, we are building a stronger, fairer and more inclusive workplace that benefits everyone.”

Visit the Gender Equity Week website to view and register for events. Early registration is recommended, as previous years’ events have sold out.

And if you can’t wait until 7 March to get your hit of amazing women, you can join Macquarie’s Dr Tayyaba Zafar, Dr Lizzy Lowe and Dr Heather Handley for a free evening event at Chatswood Library on Wednesday 4 March: Wild Women and stories from the scientific frontier

Macquarie has been awarded SAGE Athena SWAN Bronze accreditation in recognition of action we’ve taken to address gender inequity in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) disciplines and achieve tangible outcomes across the University.

The SAGE Athena SWAN Bronze accreditation recognises institutions’ commitment to advancing the careers of staff from diverse backgrounds and addressing the underrepresentation of women in STEMM. Achieving a bronze award requires institutions to conduct in-depth self-assessment of their structures, systems and culture to identify gender equity-related gaps and barriers, then propose a robust and measurable SAGE action plan to address these.

“I am extremely proud that Macquarie has been awarded a SAGE Athena SWAN Bronze award,” says Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton. “This is an internationally recognised acknowledgement of our ongoing commitment to, and progress towards, gender equity at Macquarie.

“The accreditation process has been highly collaborative, involving colleagues across the University. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to achieving this accreditation – in particular our Gender Equity Self-Assessment Team (GESAT) members for their participation in the process, and GESAT co-chairs Distinguished Professor Lesley Hughes and Pete Boyle and previous co-chair Professor Sherman Young for their stewardship.”

Macquarie’s SAGE action plan aligns closely with our Workplace Gender Equity Strategy and has already begun yielding results, including:

• a redesign of the academic promotion process to make it more inclusive
• the piloting of innovative approaches to mitigate bias in STEMM, such as anonymised recruitment at long-listing stage
• increased representation of academic women in Engineering from 5% to 25% in just 18 months.

“We know that we need to be bold and innovative to create real change for equity, diversity and inclusion, and at Macquarie we’re ensuring we focus on addressing the causes of underrepresentation and inequality, not the symptoms,” says Professor Dowton. “We’re already seeing the impact of this approach and will continue to make it a key priority for our university.”

For more information on our gender equity strategy and our Athena SWAN application please visit the Towards Gender Equity website.