ANZ introduces six weeks’ paid Gender Affirmation Leave

ANZ today announced its Australian and New Zealand based employees who are affirming their gender will be able to access six weeks of paid leave, and up to 12 months’ unpaid leave.

The newly created Gender Affirmation Leave will support staff as they undergo any aspect of gender affirmation including social, medical, and legal gender affirmation.

ANZ’s Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Fiona MacDonald, said: “This is another example of ANZ’s ongoing commitment to the LGBTIQ+ community and creating an inclusive culture where our people feel a sense of belonging and comfortable to be their authentic selves.

“The six weeks of paid leave means people who are affirming their gender do not need to exhaust their annual or sick leave entitlements, while also easing some of the financial pressures.

“This is especially important as research shows that trans and gender diverse people are more likely to experience lower incomes and employment rates,” Ms MacDonald said.

There are many ways an individual can affirm their gender and the extended leave recognises the process needs time and is not the same for everyone.

Gender affirming processes could include:

• social affirmation (for example: adopting the dress and style of presentation that better aligns with their gender identity and expression, changing their pronouns and/or name)
• medical affirmation (for example: surgery, hormone therapy or both, medical appointments, rest and recovery from medical procedures)
• legal affirmation (for example: legally changing their name and/or gender marker on personal identification documents such as passport, birth certificate, driver’s license or bank card).

ANZ employs more than 40,000 staff globally and is a signatory to the UN Standards of Conduct for Business Tackling Discrimination against LGBTI People.

ANZ’s LGBTIQ+ employee resource network, ANZ Pride, is made up of more than 2000 LGBTIQ+ staff and allies across 15 countries. For more than 15 years ANZ Pride has advocated for the rights of LGBTIQ+ staff and customers across all our geographies including policy and process changes, inclusive system updates, education and awareness, and community engagement.

Case studies and spokespeople are available on request.

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