Australia’s largest university has expanded a special type of leave for “transgender” or “non-binary” staff who are “affirming their gender identity”.
Monash University announced last week that it is now providing “earlier” and “improved” accessibility to its Gender Affirmation Leave provisions, and giving eligible staff immediate access to the full 30-day entitlement rather than waiting for it to accrue.
The leave can be used for so-called sex change surgery, recovering from medical procedures, counselling appointments, to change names, pronouns, dress and physical appearance, and to prepare legal documents.
Monash said the new provisions reflected its “commitment to ensuring staff can access support whenever it’s needed, including during onboarding or early in their time at Monash”, and that it recognised “that gender affirmation journeys are deeply personal and may not align with length-of-service milestones”.
The university added that “gender affirmation leave may be taken for the period of time needed for a staff member to affirm their gender identity”, with continuing and fixed-term staff able to access up to 30 days of the entitlement over the duration of their employment.
A pro-rata system is in place for part-time staff, while eligible Casual Professional or Academic Sessional staff are entitled to unpaid leave “considered on a case-by-case basis”.
Monash said it “recognises that the gender affirmation process, including but not limited to changing one’s name, pronouns, dress, and physical appearance, may be a time of increased pressure and stress [and that it] endeavours to provide staff with the flexibility required”.
Regarding students, the university stated it “supports students to affirm their gender in the learning environment”, and added “there is no expectation that students share their intention to affirm their gender with teaching or other staff”.
Students may, however, wish to “communicate this information via a plan”.
The plan may include aspects such as “name and pronoun use”, “if and how information about the student’s gender affirmation will be shared with others (including staff and peers)”, and “options for assessment and attendance flexibility to accommodate medical appointments or other commitments associated with the student’s gender affirmation”.
Other potential changes occurring through the gender-affirmation process may include amendments to the person’s legal name, their “name in use”, and their gender, “including if they identify as non-binary or gender-diverse”.
Other amendments may involve alterations to pronouns, email addresses, and titles, including the option to use “Mrs/Ms/Miss/Mr or the non-binary title Mx”.
The wider Monash cohort has been urged to follow the wishes of those affected under this arrangement, with the university stating that it “expects all members of its community to respect the name in use and pronouns of staff and students” .
Monash also stated that it “encourages staff and students to support each other by reminding others of the person’s new name or pronouns, and respectfully correcting people when necessary, whether the person in question is present or not”, and that “if a mistake is made with someone’s name or pronouns, staff and students should acknowledge this mistake and correct it”.
Monash further added that behaviour such as “intentional misgendering” and/or “deadnaming” is “hurtful … not acceptable and will be managed” in accordance with the university’s Equity, Diversity and Anti-discrimination Policy.
Header image: Monash staff and students at a homosexual event (Monash).
