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Celebrating five years of VIBE

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of WSP’s VIBE group and International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), our Australian and New Zealand teams came together to discuss the ongoing challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community.

What is VIBE?

VIBE is WSP’s employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees and Allies. Founded in 2019, VIBE has been instrumental in promoting visibility and inclusion within the built environment sector. The group participates in festivals across Australia and New Zealand and champions awareness training initiatives.

VIBE has made significant strides over the past five years, including: 

  • Training: 1,000 employees across Australia and New Zealand have completed Ally or Rainbow awareness training

  • Merchandise: Over 3,000 lanyards, pins, shirts, and other items have been distributed 

  • Sponsorship: In New Zealand, VIBE sponsors Rainbow Engineering at The University of Auckland and The University of Canterbury

  • Fundraising: In Australia, VIBE has raised over $5,000 for charity

  • Accreditation: VIBE has achieved external accreditation, receiving the Rainbow Tick in 2019 in New Zealand and Bronze status with the Australian Workplace Equality Index in 2023.

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Celebrating IDAHOBIT

IDAHOBIT commemorates the day when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its classification of diseases. This day aims to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ rights violations and promote the rights of the community globally.

Brendon Schicker, Senior Water Engineer in New Zealand, recently attended a Rainbow Engineering panel event where he was asked if diversity, equality and inclusion will always be needed. He says, “In an ideal world, I would say no, as they would become redundant as inclusivity becomes ingrained in our society. However, we live in reality, and we must remain vigilant to safeguard the advancements we have made and to prevent regression. This is what IDAHOBIT means to me: a reminder of our past, a celebration of our present and a commitment to our future.”

Saad Humaid, Digital Engineering Associate in Australia, calls for us to “stand together against discrimination and celebrate diversity that makes our world vibrant and strong."

Every voice deserves to be heard, and every person deserves to be seen.

The Rainbow Games

Despite all these positive changes, many members of the LGBTQ+ community still feel unsafe and unwelcome in many areas of their life, including playing sport. Exercise and participating in sport can play a big part in our mental health but LGBTQ+ members of the community can face barriers when participating. Research has found that the majority of LGBTQ+ people who take part in sport have experienced or witnessed homophobia, biphobia or transphobia in the past 12-months.1

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Sam Learmonth, Senior Business Case Advisor in New Zealand, is a keen sportsman and has been involved in many rainbow sporting clubs in New Zealand, including New Zealand’s only rainbow rugby team, the New Zealand Falcons.

Most recently, Sam has sat on the board for the Pacific Games Rainbow Trust.

I wanted to speak about something dear to my heart, which is rainbow visibility in sport, because it's something I feel has such positive impacts for our community and it's also something that WSP has got behind, certainly in New Zealand.

The Rainbow Games is a multi-sport event for the rainbow community and its allies. It is hoped it will be held every two years, with funding coming from central and local government. 12 sports were on offer over three days of competition. The mission was to create an inclusive and empowering sports and recreation event that could foster active participation. The vision was to create an event that celebrated diversity and where individuals could feel safe and valued as well as have fun. WSP was proud to be one of the principal corporate supporters, sponsoring 13 staff members to enter.

Awareness and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community is a priority at WSP, and these events can make a difference in people’s lives without us even knowing it. Many people within the rainbow community have had very negative associations with sport, and if we can make that better, and support them in any way possible, then that is a great outcome.

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VIBE participation

Saad has been actively involved in VIBE Victoria as co-lead for the past 18-months. He has organised numerous events in Melbourne’s office, from marching in Melbourne’s Midsumma Pride March, to drag bingo bringing 100+ employees together. He touched on the difference between “acceptance” and “inclusion” beautifully, saying, “Acceptance is passive, while inclusion requires action. Acceptance is being allowed to go to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance. Acceptance means being allowed to sit at the table, whereas inclusion means being invited to the table. Inclusion involves participating in pride events and wearing a pride lanyard.”

The discussion highlighted the progress made by the LGBTQ+ community and the ongoing efforts of our teams in Australia and New Zealand to foster a more inclusive workplace. The commitment to awareness and inclusion continues to make a significant impact on people’s lives.

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Q&A

A:

Saad - Fostering inclusivity and diversity in the workplace is so important as it allows employees to see diverse identities represented and celebrated and creates a sense of belonging and validation. This visibility helps combat discrimination and bias, leading to increased employee morale, engagement and productivity.

Sam - In terms of the mental health issue, it comes back to this tension that people often feel in the workplace that if they’re not comfortable being themselves, and they’re also carrying this extra burden that they are expected to work at a high level. They’re often carrying a whole lot of other stuff related to their identity and then to not feel comfortable in the workplace is just another demand on your mental health that people just don’t have the bandwidth to cope with. If you have a workplace where people are free to be themselves, I expect that mental health pressure is less because these tensions can be avoided.

A:

Saad - Any place you feel accepted, safe and supported in being your authentic self. WSP does well with this having training, VIBE, events etc.

Sam - It’s really important to have visibility in the workplace and allow people to know where to turn if they need.

A:

Sam – WSP’s support with the Rainbow Games was a good example of this. It brought together a whole lot of staff members who previously didn’t know each other and now created a network of 13 people who have this wonderful shared experience . This creates deep and meaningful bonds between staff that fosters diversity and an inclusive environment. Imagine how powerful that could be if it was 50 people next time. I think it needs to be active engagement with staff, whether that is social events, training, attendance at pride parades, etc.

Saad – Educating and raising awareness, diversity and inclusive training to employees at all levels. Review policies and procedures all the time. Over time these procedures and the way we talk changes and we always need to be adapting. Make language more common such as pronouns. Show inclusion and diversity through the leadership teams.

A:

Sam – Typically the hiring questions are around what school you went to etc. so basically a form of self-selection. I think some of the big accounting firms in NZ have introduced more blind hiring policies, so when you get interviewed they don’t get any information about high schools or gender or anything like that and its actually resulted in a much more diverse range of people and it would be interesting to see how much information WSP collects when you apply for a job.

Saad – I think we need to establish clear diversity goals and implement unbiased recruitment processes. It’s great to see that WSP includes questions about diversity when applying, showing that we are accepted. It could also be good to partner with recruitment agencies specifically working to help underrepresented employees or people from different backgrounds.

A:

Saad – Take active steps, educate yourself, respect pronouns and identities and avoid making assumptions about someone’s identity based on their appearance or stereotypes. Speak up against discrimination, and challenge any discriminatory language or jokes. Always look, listen and learn. Attend events!

Sam – Be someone who will step up and stand up for the community. Be that safe space.

1(Menzel, T., Braumüller, B. & Hartmann-Tews, I. (2019). The relevance of sexual orientation and gender identity in sport in Europe. Findings from the Outsport survey. Cologne: German Sport University Cologne, Institute of Sociology and Gender Studies)