Westpac Faces Transgender Issues

From "Diversity Matters" Issue 7, July 1998, the newsletter of the Council for Equal Opportunity in Employment

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

Westpac is exploring ways in which they can strategically align their business need with their customer base and more creatively pursue their diversity program.

Part of the solution was employing a transgender woman in one of their branches in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.

The person was recruited through the main­stream recruiting process after briefing their employment providers on the need to include transgender people in their employment pool.

The woman is an outstanding candidate with excellent customer service skills. Westpac is able to demonstrate its commitment to employ­ing a workforce which reflects the general popu­lation and achieves its business objectives.

Transgender is an emerging area of interest for a number of C.E.O.E. Ltd members. Elizabeth Riley from the Gender Centre outlines below some of the issues involved in employing transgender individuals in the workplace.

Whose toilet is it?

Not a particularly contentious issue you might say. After all the sign/symbol on the door says it all. No room for confusion here. Or is there?

• Are you aware of recent anti-discrimi­nation legislation protecting the rights of transgender (transsexual) people?
• Who is transgender? How is this defined?
• What would you do if someone de­cided to "transition" in your workplace? What does "transition" mean?
• What if the best applicant for a posi­tion in your organisation was transgender? How would you deal with concerns amongst staff?
• How would you deal with concerns amongst clients? What if any of your clients are transgender?
• What are your rights and responsi­bilities? What are the rights of transgender employees/clients?
• What if the person responsible for answering these questions turns out to be transgender?
• As for the toilets?

While transgender people (those adopt­ing a gender role opposite to their birth gender) represent only a small percentage of society, more and more people are deciding to declare their transgender status.

This is probably due to an improvement in attitudes within the community and the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation

Many others continue to suppress their sexuality from fear of social condemna­tion.

This means that employer groups, as well as the wider community, are increasingly likely to find themselves in contact with transgender people and as a consequence need to address some of these questions raised above.

A transgender person may well emerge from any level of your organisation or client base.

It is better to be informed of the legal and social issues facing your organisation in its dealings with transgender people, in anticipation, rather than after the event when discriminatory treatment could prove costly.

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