Telstra recognises same-sex marriage

It seems telecommunications giant Telstra is a step ahead its former government owner with its stance on gay marriage.

Telstra last week launched a GLBT social group, Spectrum, as part of an internal diversity program -” with a commitment to eliminating discrimination against GLBT employees, including those who may be married.

The group is an initiative of a GLBT Diversity Taskforce, stemming from a wider Diversity Council established two years ago.

Telstra chief of product development and chair of the GLBT Diversity Taskforce, Holly Kramer, said the company wants to promote diversity in the workplace, to eliminate discrimination against employees and make Telstra an employer of choice in the gay and lesbian community.

She said the taskforce took cues from other international companies, including IBM, a leader in corporate inclusion and one of the first to establish a link with the GLBT community.

As part of the move, the GLBT Taskforce identified and amended 171 policies to include same-sex partners in entitlements, including carers leave and use of company vehicles.

-œWe felt as a matter of principle it was important that [sexuality] should never be a cause for denying people access to those policies, Kramer told Southern Star.

-œIf nothing else it sends a very strong message, both internally and externally that we … put our money where our mouth is in terms of adjusting all of our policies to ensure they were non-discriminatory.

Australian Marriage Equality included Telstra as one of the few on their list of supportive corporate partners for recognising same-sex marriage.

Although same-sex marriage is not legal in Australia, Kramer said this stance extends to overseas employees who may have married internationally.

-œWe would recognise where marriage has been approved, and people are legally married -” we would honour that and recognise that.

-œObviously we are subject to other rules and regulations but as far as our company’s concerned, we aim to be as non-discriminatory as we possibly can be.

As for community support, Kramer said as the Taskforce grows there may be room for sponsorship partnerships with the external community, although they will be selective before getting involved.

-œI guess the one thing we’re not is an unlimited bucket of funds … but it means dedicated people willing to get actively involved and take part.

-œAs a company we’re happy and willing to stand behind the right community event for support, she said.