Our commitment to diversity & inclusion
At the very heart of TACSI’s philosophy is the belief that people are experts in their own lives, which comes to life through our investment in relationships first.
TACSI is committed to building and supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace that’s fair and flexible.
We start with deep respect and value for the diversity of people, their lived and living experiences, and different identities.
We promote personal and professional growth, and celebrate the unique strengths and capabilities of our diverse workforce.
We are the first to acknowledge that this is an evolving and on-going journey.
How we’re putting diversity, equity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do
- Through our Reconciliation Action Plan
- Regular and ongoing cultural awareness, safety, diversity and inclusion training
- As part of our new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Competency Policy, we are committed to providing paid cultural leave provisions and entitlements to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees for the purpose of meeting traditional lore, customary lore and family obligations, and/or participating in national cultural or significant activities.
- Weaving diversity and inclusion mindsets and behaviours throughout our Words To Live By (see below)
- Providing flexible work arrangements and leave arrangements that acknowledge the cultural, physical and emotional labour involved for individuals who engage daily with a dominant culture that marginalises their participation
- Inviting all participants to share their pronouns in meetings, workshops and group gatherings
- Making sure our physical spaces display important signifiers of allyship such as LGBTQIIA+ flags, all-gender bathrooms, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia, visible copies of our RAP Leadership Statement and Acknowledgement of Country signage
- Making sure that physical spaces used for in-person events provide adequate mobility aid access and facilities
- Providing a Mobility Aid Access Guide for our Adelaide office, and our Sydney office.
- Making sure that our digital assets (email footers, Zoom profiles, presentations, reports, etc) include personal pronouns and acknowledge the Country/s we’re working on
Our ‘Words To Live By’
These are our organisational values. They strongly voice our intentions to demonstrate diversity and inclusion in all of our actions. We do this by asking ourselves:
- Amplifying and being led by marginalised voices?
- Aware of the limitations of my/our own experience?
- Understanding that identity impacts experience?
- Creating safe/brave and inclusive spaces?
- Challenging inequitable power structures?
- Seeking to create and promote diverse actions and therefore more stability in systems?
- Embracing diversity to enrich and embolden solutions and communications?
- Centering impact for Aboriginal peoples?
- Foregrounding reconciliation and allyship in everything we do?
- Respecting and learning from the diversity, strength and wisdom of Aboriginal peoples?
- Nurturing deeper relationships with people and the planet?
- Supporting healing through our interactions?
- Noticing and ending colonising behaviours and practises?
We are committed to putting First Nations First
We are committed to fostering a workplace environment that puts cultural sensitivity, safety and inclusion at the forefront and which understands, values and respects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Culture.
Non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members, recognise their inherent privileges and in our work choices, we actively seek to recognise and learn the many ways to let go of power. We will respect the Cultural authority of communities we work alongside.
We commit to building deep, authentic and meaningful partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We are aware of our own customs and communities, assumptions, and biases and identify actions to reduce such barriers.
We commit to enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to participate in cultural activities, and to meet their cultural obligations in instances where individual needs and obligations need to be met and conducted within working hours.
What the future looks like at TACSI
TACSI always has — and always will — walk alongside marginalised peoples and communities, supporting and amplifying their voices and perspectives to shape more equitable and just services, policies, and systems.
In the future, TACSI will only realise its full potential through becoming an inclusive employer and champion of diversity. We must deepen our public role as a committed ally, support marginalised people with capacity building and create spaces for them to take the lead.
That future requires us, in the here and now, to deeply question and end our role in perpetuating colonising structures; listen to and foreground the wisdom of Indigenous Practices and Knowledges, and actively participate in truth telling.
That future also asks us to see and address power differentials between individuals and groups that often prevent people from working together in meaningful ways, if at all.
Resources and reading
Here are some of the resources we use to expand our learning and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion:
- What’s in a name? – Danah Michele Boyd
- Bell Hooks And The Extraordinary Power Of Names – Jené Gutierrez
- ‘Gender Equality by Design’: Building a More Inclusive (and Productive) Workplace
- A practical guide to trans, gender diverse and non-binary inclusion – Cohealth (pdf)
- LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Language Guide – Victorian Government
- Pride Inclusions Programs Pronouns Guide (pdf) – ACON
- Let’s Talk Gender – Pride in Diversity
- The Radical Copyeditor’s Style Guide For Writing About Transgender People – Alex Kapitan
- What is the Singular They, and Why Should I Use It? – Grammarly
- The Pronoun Lowdown – Nevo Zisin
- Design for Dignity Guidelines
- Welcome Here & Diversity Days resources for diversity and inclusion (with First Nations represented as well) – ACON