Victorian Health Promotion Foundation The Equal Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 23 March 2016 Renee Imbesi Principal Program Officer, Mental Wellbeing

©VicHealthEqual Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 2 The Equal Footing Toolkit

©VicHealth The Equal Footing Program Equal Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 3 Making the link

©VicHealthEqual Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 4 Our goals Build a broad organisational culture which promotes equality, via: o Increased awareness of gender inequality issues o Increased employee confidence to take action o Increased organisational confidence to take action o Increase support and awareness of bystander action

©VicHealthEqual Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 5 Our approach 8 workplaces 500+ individuals Diverse sectors including finance, hospitality, retail, human resources, engineering, publishing and non- profit family services sectors. 1.Program launch 2.Poster campaign 3.Face-to-face training 4.E-comms and ‘On a Roll 21’ social media game 5.Policies and procedures 6.Sustainability - ‘train the trainer’ component

©VicHealth Poster campaign “They are realistic and have created conversation” “Encouraged discussion about gender roles and sexism in the workplace” “Very good at challenging ‘the norm’ and raising awareness on how assumptions can be damaging” Equal Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 6

©VicHealth Face-to-face training “We need to challenge these standards (assumptions) we use and act with” “I’m more aware about the issue in my everyday life” “Tips and examples of what to say in situations” Equal Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 7

©VicHealth “When a team member from Equal Footing asked a senior leader in a common area if they were going to be attending the launch session, the person replied with, ‘No, I run the company’. “ “Many people described it as fantastic, cupcakes also helped, and senior people attended and were positive. A few senior men were heard to express ‘Is this stuff really a problem here?’ but most were supportive.” Equal Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 8

©VicHealthEqual Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 9 MEN AND WOMEN TOGETHER “It’s time for us to solve this together – women can’t do it alone” “We need men to stand beside women and for us all to move toward change” BIAS IS NATURAL “Our upbringing leads us all to have different ideas of the way life is or should be. We bring these ideals with us to the workplace. It’s normal that we all don’t think alike!” “This is not about blaming men – we’re all biased and many discriminatory assumptions are made by women everyday, too” “Most discrimination is subtle and unintentional; occurring as a result of snap judgements. We all need to make a conscious effort to be more self-aware. Stop and ask, ‘are we being fair and inclusive?’” LET’S BE SOLUTION FOCUSED “Shine the light on fairness and inclusion, not problems”

©VicHealthEqual Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 10 EVERYONE WINS IF WE GET IT RIGHT “Gender stereotypes limit, and potentially harm, everyone” “If we can shake gender stereotypes, work is better for everyone” THIS CAN ACHIEVE IMPORTANT GENERATIONAL CHANGE “Unfairness and a lack of respect can lead to the general perceptions of unequal power and discrimination against women. This contributes to the bigger picture issue of violence against women. Gender equality is a large part of the answer” “If we can address inequality, our daughters will grow up in a world where they’ll get a fair go and our sons can be fallible, can seek help if they need it, and do what they want to do without gender-imposed penalties. Who could possibly have an issue with that?”

©VicHealth The Equal Footing Toolkit A ‘kick-start’ An engagement tool Emerging evidence Equal Footing Program – new approaches in new sectors 11 Available online at VicHealth website