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Domain knows that “embedding an inclusive culture will have a ripple effect beyond our organisation”, so they have taken steps to make their workplace accessible for all.
A few years ago, team members at Domain began making a small change to their communications: they added pronouns to their email signatures.
Little did they know that this move would help attract some of Australia’s best and brightest to their brand.
“We’ve attracted great talent because they felt seen when they saw that we acknowledged pronouns,” said Glenn Slobodzian, Domain’s talent acquisition consultant and chair of community groups. “This outcome brings me great joy.”
In 2019, Domain founded its in-house LGBTQIA+ pride committee, Pride @ Domain. The committee has a three-pronged mission: to raise awareness about the varied experiences of the queer community, to celebrate the “richness and resilience” of their workforce through key events, and to educate colleagues on LGBTQIA+ issues.
“I believe all industries should create inclusive workplaces for LGBTQIA+ employees,” said Glenn Slobodzian.
“When specifically considering the property industry, think about our clients. People who buy, rent and sell are diverse. Embedding an inclusive culture will have a ripple effect beyond the organisation.”
Each year, Pride @ Domain runs a number of events both to celebrate LGBTQIA+ days of significance and to educate colleagues about key issues affecting communities, such as asexual awareness and high rates of fatal violence against transgender people.
But for Glenn Slobodzian, the biggest highlight of Pride @ Domain’s achievements in recent years have been policy changes.
In the 2022 financial year, Domain was awarded a bronze-level recognition by the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) for the company’s LGBTQIA+ workplace policies.
“We ensured all our policies were edited to be LGBTQIA+ inclusive or specific, and we introduced ‘Gender Affirmation Guidelines,’ allowing employees to take up to six weeks of paid leave to affirm their gender or 12 months of unpaid leave,” Glenn Slobodzian explained.
Despite doubling their AWEI points in that 12-month period, Domain believes that its work is not over yet.
The company stated that it regularly reviews areas for ongoing improvement, through “interviews with current and past committee members, assessing committee meeting productivity, reviewing committee objectives with business objectives, and reviewing external best practices”.
The feedback from this review process caused Domain to completely “revamp and relaunch” all their employee committees in 2023, including changing governance structures and deepening connections with Domain’s executive leadership team.
Pride @ Domain also recognises the “multitude of challenges that LGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly youth, face” in Australian society, including housing insecurity.
With levels of family rejection higher among LGBTQIA+ people than cishet community members, queer people are “more than twice as likely to experience homelessness than the rest of the population”, according to StreetSmart Australia, which also noted that queer people become homeless at a younger average age.
Housing insecurity is even higher for transgender youth, with research from The University of Melbourne revealing that one in five young trans people have been homeless.
For Pride @ Domain, community outreach is an integral part of their operations. Glenn Slobodzian explained: “We strive to create a meaningful impact wherever we can.
“This is why, in nearly all the events we organise, we include a fundraising initiative to support Minus18 – an Australian charity for LGBTQIA+ youth that aims to improve lives through life-affirming events, education and youth empowerment.”
Domain hopes that its events and initiatives can “create a workplace that champions equality and acceptance”.
“We aim to cultivate an atmosphere of respect and allyship, where everyone feels seen, heard and embraced for who they are,” said Glenn Slobodzian.
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