Griffith University has been awarded its fourth SAGE Cygnet Award, this time for its work to strengthen workplace flexibility and support staff taking career breaks.
“We are pleased to receive this recognition for our fourth Cygnet Award,” said Marnie King, Senior Lead (Inclusion & Development) at Griffith.
“We understand workplace flexibility’s ongoing importance for so many employees and particularly for those who have been historically marginalised from the workplace.”
What they did
Over recent years, Griffith has introduced a range of initiatives to make flexibility genuinely available to staff, enabling more inclusive career progression opportunities.
The University enhanced its parental leave policy by adopting gender-neutral language and introducing new provisions such as Gender Affirmation Leave, improved Cultural Leave, and strengthened Family and Domestic Violence Leave.
Staff and managers now have easier access to clear, consistent information about flexible work arrangements through the Griffith website, onboarding materials, and the Manager Essentials training program.
Griffith has also invested in targeted supports for carers and parents, including a Carers Travel Scheme, alongside formal guidance on Achievement Relative to Opportunity to ensure staff returning from leave are assessed fairly and given equal opportunity to succeed.
Improving staff confidence
Together, these interventions are building a more supportive and sustainable workplace.
Staff surveys conducted between 2021 and 2024 showed a five percent improvement in perceptions of workplace flexibility, with no significant differences reported between women and men.
In conferring the award, SAGE CEO Dr Janin Bredehoeft celebrated the achievement of this target in particular.
“Griffith University set itself a clear goal through its Athena Swan Bronze Action Plan: to improve staff confidence in workplace flexibility by at least five percent. To have exceeded this target for both academic (+6%) and professional staff (+10%) is a powerful achievement, and one that has been sustained over time.”
“Even in the face of sector-wide financial pressures and organisational change, Griffith has demonstrated its commitment to equity and inclusion. This fourth Cygnet Award is recognition of the real, measurable difference Griffith is making to the working lives of its staff.”
Making an impact: Who for?
Professional staff in particular reported higher levels of satisfaction with flexibility, and new employees are increasingly making use of pro-rata parental leave arrangements. There is also early evidence that staff with disabilities are achieving greater success when workplace adjustments are in place.
The impact has been tangible: more staff are able to remain in full-time roles when offered flexible options, boosting retention and career progression.
As one Griffith staff member explained (in a Focus Group with staff with disabilities): “For me, working from home is one part of the flexibility. But the other significant part for me is just being able to take time off [for an appointment] or take a longer lunch if needed.”
Addressing ongoing challenges
While Griffith initially identified challenges such as inconsistent communication and unequal workloads for staff returning from leave, its reforms have addressed these barriers and helped the university make tangible strides towards equity.
Looking ahead, Griffith plans to further embed these practices, including by integrating flexibility into timetabling processes and strengthening communication with prospective and current staff about their entitlements.
Find out more
You can read all about Griffith’s actions, and the outcomes and impacts, in their full Cygnet Award application, or read an overview version in this Progress and Impact Summary.
This Award builds on Griffith’s Athena Swan Bronze Award, and marks a milestone on their pathway to Athena Swan Silver accreditation.
