Kinetic receives Bronze accreditation in the Australian Workplace Equality Index

Kinetic has been recognised for its progress creating a safe and inclusive work environment for LGBTQI+ people, with the company proudly awarded Bronze accreditation in the Australian Workplace Equality Index for the first time.

The Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) is a rigorous and evidence-based benchmarking tool that annually assesses workplaces in the progress and impact of LGBTQI+ inclusion initiatives.

It serves as the definitive national benchmark on LGBTQI+ workplace inclusion, advancing best practice in Australia for employers across all sectors.

Driving LGBTQI+ inclusion and allyship is one of Kinetic’s core sustainability priorities, and the business has made major strides to improve the inclusiveness of its workplaces so all sexualities, genders, and identities feel welcome coming to work every day.

Achieving AWEI Bronze accreditation is a major milestone as Kinetic works towards a target of Gold accreditation by 2030.

Our journey towards workplace inclusion

Kinetic is a proud Principal Partner Member of Pride in Diversity (PID), the national not-for-profit employer support program for LGBTQI+ workplace inclusion that governs the AWEI.

With support and guidance from PID, Kinetic has taken steps to drive diversity, equality, and inclusion in its workplaces and communities to achieve Bronze employer status.

Some of the progress Kinetic has made in the past year includes:

• Updating Kinetic’s People & Culture policies and procedures to be inclusive of all sexualities, genders and cultures,
• Launching the Kinetic Omni Pride Network,
• Celebrating International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) and Wear It Purple Day,
• Introducing a growing fleet of ‘You are Loved’ Pride Buses across Australia and New Zealand, and
• Making LGBTQI+ inclusion and allyship training and resources available to all team members at Kinetic.

Yoshi Kang, Chair of the Kinetic’s Omni Pride Network, says achieving Bronze accreditation is testament to the incredible work happening across the business to promote LGBTQI+ inclusion.

“At Kinetic, we want to become a trusted ally for the LGBTQI+ community, so when someone walks into one of our depots, they feel comfortable bringing their true self to work every day,” Mr Kang says.

“We’re immensely proud of our progress over the past 12 months, including launching our Pride Network, celebrating IDAHOBIT and Wear It Purple Day with our teams, and growing our rainbow-wrapped fleet of Pride Buses to 11 to spread a message of love and support across our networks.

“We back this up with diversity & inclusion training, guides on allyship and use of inclusive language, and have also appointed LGBTQI+ HR Grievance Officers and confidential contacts and allies to support our team members.

“This sends an unequivocal message to our teams about the value we place on LGBTQI+ inclusion in the workplace and the communities we serve.”

Kinetic goes for gold

With AWEI Bronze Certification attained, Kinetic will now build on the diversity and inclusion policy frameworks it has in place and work towards AWEI Silver then Gold Tier Status.

Gold Employers are typically in the top 10 per cent of organisations, having achieved exceptional AWEI Advanced Submission scores.

Kinetic Co-CEO Adam Begg says reaching this target is a key strategic priority for the business, but no one underestimated the work required to get there.

“It’s fantastic to attain our Bronze Certification as recognition of everyone across Kinetic who has fully embraced the programs and initiatives we’ve introduced to help us get this far,” Mr Begg says.

“But we’re not resting on our laurels; we’ve got a long way to go to get to where we want to be. We are going for gold status and for us this means lifting the bar of what is expected of transport operators and organisations with strong influence in the community.

“That’s why we’ll continue engaging with our teams and working with our partners like Pride in Diversity to help us build a truly safe and inclusive workplace for our people.”

Kinetic is Australasia’s largest bus operator with a team of 5000 buses and 7000 people moving over 100 million people every year. Kinetic is also the region’s largest operator of battery electric buses (BEBs), with its zero emission fleet growing to 300 across Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year.

Underpinning Kinetic’s core sustainability priorities are the transition from diesel powered buses to electric, gender equality and equity and LGBTQI+ inclusion and allyship.

Learn more about Kinetic’s commitment to LGBTQI+ inclusion at wearekinetic.com/diversity-inclusion.

Further enquiries
Barrett Gibson
GM - Marketing & Communications
0424 647 488
barrettg@wearekinetic.com