Flinders University has stepped forward as a leader in menopause-friendly workplaces, having earned the first-ever SAGE Cygnet Award for building a menopause-friendly workplace culture.
The recognition of their progress towards equity, diversity and inclusion comes as World Menopause Day approaches on Saturday 18 October.
Inclusive environments
Flinders has also just become the first Australian university to be accredited as a ‘Menopause Friendly Workplace’ through Menopause Friendly Australia.
The two accreditations together recognise Flinders’ sector-leading progress towards transforming their workplace culture and providing inclusive, supportive environments for staff experiencing menopause.
“What we are seeing here is a very exciting initiative,” said SAGE CEO Dr Janin Bredehoeft.
“Flinders has taken the sector-leading step of identifying menopause as an important workplace equity and wellbeing issue, demonstrating meaningful progress towards creating a menopause-friendly organisational culture, where staff with lived experience report feeling seen, supported and empowered to openly discuss their wellbeing needs.”
Flinders University Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Romy Lawson said, “Flinders University is proud to be the first university to achieve this dual accreditation which is a strong endorsement of the steps we are taking to raise awareness about menopause, reduce stigma and strengthen access to supports in the workplace.
“We are fostering a workplace culture where staff feel seen, heard and empowered to speak up and seek support through every stage of their career. The university’s menopause program has been designed to create lasting cultural and systemic change.”
An integrated approach to menopause wellbeing
The university’s menopause program has been designed to create lasting cultural and systemic change.
Through this initiative, Flinders has
- Delivered training for staff, supervisors and Senior Executive
- developed a menopause guideline and conversation toolkits to provide practical support
- launched a dedicated Menopause at Work webpage and Teams community; and
- appointed Menopause Champions across the University.
Together, these actions have helped raise visibility and awareness, normalise conversations around (peri)menopause wellbeing, reduce stigma, and strengthen access to menopause supports.
The impact has been measurable
Since 2022, supervisor confidence in supporting staff through menopause has nearly tripled, wellbeing scores for women in mid-to-late career stages have improved significantly, and staff engagement in menopause awareness activities has continued to grow.
Many employees with lived experience of menopause now describe feeling seen, supported, and empowered.
“The recent shift in conversation has been radical and refreshing,” said one staff member.
Some staff have gone on to become Champions to support others experiencing (peri)menopause.
Find out more
This is Flinders’ fourth SAGE Cygnet Award.
It builds on the university’s Athena Swan Bronze Award accreditation, and marks a milestone on their pathway through the internationally recognised Athena Swan framework.
You can read all about Flinders’ actions, and the outcomes and impacts, in their full Cygnet Award application—or read an overview version in this progress and impact summary.
Flinders’ People and Culture team was also recently recognised as finalists in two 2025 SAGE Awards categories: Sector Disruptor and Catalyst for Change.
