Gender diverse and LGBT+ people are disproportionately impacted by sexual harassment. ‘Time for respect: Fifth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces’ conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2022 found that in the five-year period before the survey was published, some Australians experienced workplace sexual harassment at rates disproportionate to the total population (33 per cent). Specifically, people who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, asexual, aromantic, undecided, not sure, questioning, or other (46 per cent) and people with an intersex variation (70 per cent) experienced workplace sexual harassment.  

Our BHP support systems, processes and resources aim to be LGBT+ inclusive and safe and accessible to all. To help achieve this, through inception and design phases of the Ethics Support Service, the support service team worked with Jasper (which is BHP’s employee inclusion group for BHP’s LGBT+ community and its allies). This included ensuring Jasper was engaged in risk assessments, the design of procedures, and using LGBT+ personas in empathy mapping to assess inclusion throughout the end-to-end support service process.   

Examples of how the Support Service has taken steps to establish LGBT+ inclusive and accessible support include:  

• having procedures and responses which follow the six Trauma Informed Care principles, including (1) Safety and (6) Respect-for-diversity 
• ensuring Support Service procedures link and align to the LGBT+ Inclusion Guide  
• encouraging Support Service members to use pronouns in their signature 
• including gender affirmation resources and Jasper in the service directory as contacts who can for support people with finding information and/or support pathways 
• having LGBT+ awareness and response training as part of onboarding and ongoing training/capability plans for all Support Service team members. Training completed to date includes: 
• BHP’s Walking in Rainbow Shoes 
• BHP’s LGBTQ Awareness & Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) 
• BHP’s Jasper - Becoming an Active Ally 
• Sexual Assault in LGBTQ Communities – ACON Pride Training (Virtual, self-paced) 
• Pride in Diversity’s LGBT+ Awareness and Education 

Feedback from those using the Support Service, either indirectly to Jasper or directly through the Support Service, has been positive. Most importantly, employees report that they feel seen and heard, and appreciate having someone to talk to as they navigate through a difficult situation.