Dear staff,
As we mark International Women’s Day (IWD), I would like to acknowledge the valuable and significant contribution that women make every day at UQ and thank you for all that you do for our community.
While there is much we celebrate today, IWD also provides us with the opportunity to think about what we need to focus on moving forward to achieve gender equality and have the conversations we need to have in order to drive further progress.
This year’s UN Women theme, Count her in: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress, highlights the critical importance of financial independence and economic empowerment for women. Equal pay is a key part of this, and the recent inaugural Workplace Gender Equality Agency employer gender pay gap report highlights that more must be done to achieve this in Australia.
Together at UQ, we are working very hard to achieve gender equality with targeted policies and programs. I was pleased that UQ’s gender pay gap, at 3.1%, was lower than the 5.2% gap in the Training and Education sector, and significantly lower than the national gap.
However, we know there is more that we need to do to advance gender equity, diversity and inclusion, and we are very committed to doing this. Our Gender Equality Action Plan 2023–2025 sets out a clear path to how we can achieve this. You can read more in my IWD article published in Contact magazine.
I was delighted to join Dr Colleen Hunt today in Warwick to speak at the Zonta International Women’s Day event and then to have the opportunity to tour the Hermitage Research Facility and hear from a number of very impressive female leaders from QAAFI and DAF working at the facility.
I look forward to hearing the outcomes of discussions that are happening across various IWD events on campus today. Thank you to all who have helped organise these important events.
Improving health services for LGBTQIA+ people
Congratulations to Professor James Ward and Dr Megan Ross, who have secured more than $1.9 million from the Medical Research Future Fund to advance separate research projects to improve health services for LGBTQIA+ people.
Professor Ward will co-design 3 Indigenous-led studies to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous LGBTQIA+ peoples living in South-East Queensland.
Dr Ross will collaborate with LGBTQIA+ individuals, healthcare experts and primary care institutions to establish an interconnected network of inclusive primary care providers and improve access to inclusive primary care providers.
Congratulations to UQ's ARC Fellowship recipients
This year, we celebrate 2 UQ researchers who have secured more than $1.9 million through the Australian Research Council Mid-Career Industry Fellowships scheme. Dr Li Li and Associate Professor Phong Thai will lead separate research projects in collaboration with industry partners to advance skills in translation and commercialisation through their research across agriculture and environmental health sectors.
Pulse survey reminder
Please don’t miss the opportunity to have your say in our Pulse Survey, which is now open for all continuing, fixed term and casual staff. Your feedback on working at UQ provides us with invaluable insights into what we are doing well and areas where we can do better.
Your responses are anonymous, so please take a few minutes to share your thoughts. Eligible staff received a link to the survey in an email from me on Monday 4 March.
Enjoy your weekend.
Best wishes
Debbie
