2019 CONFERENCE PROGRAM
REGISTER NOWA safer and more respectful Victoria Police for LGBTI employees: listening to lived experiences to drive cultural change
Presenters: Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson APM, Victoria Police
Ms Kristen Hilton, Commissioner, Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission
In 2015, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission conducted the world’s largest ever independent study of sex discrimination, sexual harassment and predatory behaviour in Victoria Police. The results make for confronting reading.
Key findings included that 70 per cent of lesbian, gay and bisexual survey respondents had experienced negative gay commentary or jokes and 11 per cent had experienced bullying or harassment. Gay men in Victoria Police were six times more likely to have been sexually harassed by a colleague and the rates for lesbian women were a third higher.
Listening to lived experiences was critical to understanding the drivers of harm for LGBTI employees. The Review found widespread homophobia and sexuality-based hostility, particularly for gay men who were perceived to differ from the normative construction of masculinity.
‘Joining Victoria Police as a gay male, I have been subjected to copious amounts of harassment and abuse, starting at the academy whilst a recruit…it’s the worst in any organization I’ve ever worked in.’
Heteronormative assumptions and gender stereotyping were identified as drivers of behaviour such as intrusive and aggressive questioning about an employee’s sexuality.
‘I felt very uncomfortable. I told the person that I was gay and not interested in men. Still he kept asking me to go out and insinuated that we could have sex. Like I would ‘change’ for him.’
This presentation focusses on Victoria Police’s ongoing work to drive the deep cultural reforms necessary to implement the 2015 Independent Review recommendations. It highlights key elements of Victoria Police’s organisational change response including new workplace harm units and focussing on victim-centric complaints and discipline responses.
The presentation highlights recent organisational changes for Victoria Police’s LGBTI employees, including the 2018 launch of a new employee Pride Network and a formal apology by the Chief Commissioner to LGBTI employees. A further key change is the 2018 launch of the inaugural LGBTI Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, with its vision for a workplace culture where everyone can be authentic and safe at work regardless of their sexual orientation, trans or intersex status.
The presentation discusses preliminary insights from the Commission’s 2018-2019 Independent Review on the experiences of discrimination, harassment and predatory behaviour in Victoria Police, and addresses how the deepening and strengthening of the relationship between the Commission and Victoria Police is critical for driving change. It shares insights about how Victoria Police can address the specific nature, drivers and impacts of harm for LGBTI employees and the critical importance of listening to the lived experiences of harm of its LGBTI employees for Victoria Police’s ongoing cultural change journey.