Improving how we recognise gender diversity

UNSW’s people systems have evolved to better recognise and reflect the gender diversity of our community.

Over the past 12 months, UNSW has undertaken a program of upgrades to our people systems to improve how we capture and report gender information. As a result of this work, gender is now recorded in line with Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) standards – standards that UNSW researchers have helped to develop.

“Our previous core People & Culture system could only record gender in three ways: female, male or unspecified,” said Cathy Brown, Director Inclusive Communities. “We know that this didn’t reflect many staff’s identities or lived experiences, and our systems constrained how staff could be recognised.”

You can now record your gender using one of five categories:

• female/woman
• male/man
• non binary
• different term
• prefer not to answer.

This change means we will be able to build a more accurate and nuanced understanding of our UNSW community, and ensure our data better reflects the reality of the people who make up UNSW.

“It reinforces our commitment to creating an environment where people feel safe and supported to share identity information in ways that feel right to them. It represents an important step forward in our ongoing work in improving our data systems to better capture the intersectional identities of UNSW students and staff,” said Cathy.

How do you update your gender information?

You can update your gender information via the My Gender self-service portal anytime on myUNSW.

Staff are encouraged to update their records with the option that best reflects their gender. Sharing this information is always voluntary, and you are welcome to respond with ‘prefer not to answer’. 

Updating other demographic information

While you’re in the Personal Information Hub, you can also update your Personal Statistical Profile to help UNSW better understand the diversity of our community and provide more inclusive work environments. This information is voluntary and confidential, and ‘prefer not to answer’ is available.