At the Baker Institute, we are proud of our diversity and believe it enhances our innovation and our decision making. We are committed to creating an inclusive, equitable and respectful culture that celebrates the many genders, ages, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, abilities, diverse families, religions and sexual orientations within our organisation.
We feel it is important to foster an environment that embraces and celebrates diversity across our staff, students, supporters and the communities that we serve. This includes the patients we work with in our clinics, members of our community engagement group and the trial participants who generously support our research.
We have clear, written policies on equal opportunity and workplace bullying in order to prohibit harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
We also have a Consumer healthcare policy for our clinics and allied health services which addresses inclusivity with a focus on overcoming barriers around language, literacy and disability.
Our Committee
A team of committed staff and students make up our Gender Equity and Diversity Committee, which meets monthly and collaborates with our precinct partners. The committee, which was established in 2014, regularly reports to staff and the Board.
Our Committee also includes a sub-committee comprising our Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group which oversees the implementation of our Innovate RAP which was endorsed by Reconciliation Australia in 2022.
Our commitment to gender equity and diversity
As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, the Baker Institute is undertaking the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) program’s Athena SWAN accreditation program. We were very proud to receive Bronze accreditation (the highest level at the time) through this data-driven program in 2018 and we are now working toward Silver accreditation.
This program is enabling us to examine, report on and address systemic barriers to gender equity, diversity and inclusion in our organisation.
Our Gender Equity and Diversity Committee’s Terms of reference also reinforce our priorities around diversity which specifically include:
- Supporting staff and students with a disability to ensure they are part of a safe, accessible and inclusive working environment.
- Improving support, particularly in regard to communication, cultural awareness and social issues for international students.
- Celebrating the Institute’s cultural diversity.
- Supporting people from LGBTIQ+ backgrounds, including enhancing visibility and inclusivity.