We are committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all employees, contractors, volunteers and service users including those who identify as LGBITQA+.
We recognise that people of all genders, sex and sexual orientations can experience family violence, and that the LGBITQA+ community face additional barriers to accessing supports when reporting family violence. So that we can provide the best possible support to our LGBITQA+ community we are working towards accreditation against the Rainbow Tick Standards.
Rainbow Tick Accreditation will reinforce our commitment to LGBTIQA+ inclusive practice and show our service users that we are a safe inclusive and affirming service.
Pronouns
As part of our work towards Rainbow Tick, you will see us introducing pronouns in our email signatures.
Pronouns are often used to refer to others without using a name for example, he, hers, they. For a gender diverse or non-binary person gendered pronouns like ‘he’ and ‘she’ may not accurately reflect how they identify so they may choose to use the pronoun ‘they’.
It is important to us to respect the pronouns of our workforce, volunteers and service users as these are an important part of a person’s identity. When we are uncertain, we will seek to use gender neutral pronouns (they/them) or use a preferred name.
We are working hard to get it right but recognise that we aren’t perfect – if we make a mistake let us know so we can improve!
Examples of pronouns
Feminine She, her, hers She parked the car
Masculine He, him, his The book belongs to him
Non-binary They, them, theirs They caught the bus
Preferred Name
We recognise that people who are transgender or gender diverse have the right to a chosen name and that this can be very personal thing. We respect this and ask our service users if they have a preferred name.
Sometimes to assist you the law may require us to ask you for your birth name but where possible we will use your preferred name. An example of this may be if we need to make an application to a Government department on your behalf.
Further information and resources
Victorian Government LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Practice Guide – https://www.vic.gov.au/inclusive-language-guide
Rainbow Door (Switchboard Victoria) –1800 729 367
