Dear subscribers and friends of SAGE,
How quickly another quarter has flown by! It has been a busy one for SAGE, and I am pleased to share with you some updates on our activities.
Firstly, I am delighted to congratulate Edith Cowan University (ECU) on achieving their first SAGE Cygnet Award, which recognises the outcomes and impact from implementing their Athena Swan Bronze Award action plan. This tremendous achievement marks an important milestone in their journey to an Athena Swan Silver Award. You can read about their work to improve access to flexible working arrangements in their Cygnet Award application.
To support our other subscribers who are applying for Cygnet Awards, the SAGE team delivered 22 one-on-one consultations between July and September. I was happy to hear that our ECU colleagues found this service useful. If you would like guidance on preparing your application, our advisory team is eager to help.
I also encourage you to take part in the Intersectionality Series – a key component of our 2022-23 Capacity Building program, developed in collaboration with the SAGE Special Interest Group on intersectionality. The first six events, which introduced the concept of intersectionality and how it can be applied in collecting diversity data, have been very well received.
Those of you who have been following updates from the SAGE Special Interest Group on Workload Allocation will be thrilled to hear that the Workload Allocation Principles Matrix is now ready to pilot. My heartfelt thanks goes to the Group for producing this terrific tool for the sector.
SAGE continues to contribute to the work of the National Women’s Safety Alliance, in this quarter providing input into the Alliance’s response to the ‘Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022’ which amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.
Our engagement with government remains strong; in July, I represented SAGE at a Respect@Work Council event to discuss reforms to prevent and address workplace sexual harassment and reflect on the Council’s work. SAGE has also been contributing to the APEC Women in STEM: Metrics Framework project that commenced in mid-2022.
The last quarter also brought other outreach opportunities. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to ALS, a global laboratory testing company, about steps that everyone can take to promote gender equity in the workplace. And on her recent visit to the UK, Libby Lyons, Chair of the SAGE Board, met with the CEO of Advance HE, Alison Johns as we continue to build our partnership and collaborations with Advance HE.
The next quarter shows no sign of slowing down, as we have much in store for the coming weeks. I look forward to hosting senior leaders at the Heads of Institutions Forum on 7 November, and to welcoming all subscribers at next week’s National Network Meeting.
