Brahm Marjadi, Paul Gardiner, Kristen Glenister and Joanne Flavel
It was Thursday 26 October 2017, during the Public Health Association Australia (PHAA) Symposia in Sydney, and the country was in the thick of Marriage Equality debates.
Brahm Marjadi (then International Health Special Interest Group Co-Convenor) asked the-then PHAA CEO, Michael Moore, whether anybody from the Association was leading our response.
Michael acknowledged that while he was an active supporter of marriage equality, there was no collective voice of support from within the PHAA.
Michael suggested Brahm consider the establishment of a new Special Interest Group (SIG) for gender and sexuality diversity, and connected him with Paul Gardiner, a more experienced PHAA leader.
The chat revealed that the PHAA also did not have any collectives looking after ageing, Paul’s area of interest.
In fact, Brahm and Paul found many areas of public health importance which were not the primary focus of existing SIGs, and the list was both sobering and heart-wrenching.
It included gender, sexuality and sex characteristics diversity, ageing, disability, neurodiversity, rurality, cultural and linguistic diversity, racism, discrimination, socio-economic disadvantage, inequitable educational attainment, religion and spirituality.
They conceived the idea of establishing a new SIG which was to be named Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
Its birth was no less complicated than the birth of the Greek goddess Athena.
Brahm and Paul approached four colleagues to join the DEI SIG Establishing Committee.
After continuous discussions, the PHAA Board was first asked in February 2018 to consider how to best address diversity, equity and inclusion. Seven months later, PHAA leaders in-person meeting revealed a groundswell support for the Association to have a mechanism to address these issues.
The Establishing Committee obtained the required support from 15 PHAA members who comprised the DEI SIG 21 Founding Members, and we submitted the establishment proposal to the Board in February 2019.
Despite the strong grassroot support from PHAA members, some naysayers were reluctant to add yet another SIG to the existing 16.
The founders continued, arguing that this new SIG would serve all peoples and all matters that were yet to addressed by existing SIGs.
This stance was the earliest demonstration of our commitment to support those who are forgotten, neglected, voiceless, silenced or otherwise marginalised. We are always there to address those matters which are too difficult, too inconvenient, too confronting, too controversial, or too risky.
The Board approved the DEI SIG establishment on 14 February 2019.
“Not a bad date for a birthday!” Brahm proclaimed in the Pump.
The DEI SIG has since grown quickly in membership, advocacy and policy works, the scope of areas addressed, and collaboration with other SIGs.
Most importantly, we have always been consciously ‘walking the talk’.
We enshrined diversity, equity and inclusion practices in our Terms of Reference. We inspire each other to continuously improve our own practices, to be more equitable, inclusive and intersectional.
We encourage and support participation of all members, especially those with limited voice such as early career members and students. We proactively offer and invite collaborations with other SIGs.
The collective fire in our bellies stems from our shared, lived experiences navigating discrimination and marginalisation. Seeing the impact of our work motivates us and provides additional fuel.
We are driven by our passion to make the world more inclusive, more equitable, and a better place.
What is less publicly known is our work to champion diversity, equity and inclusion within the PHAA itself.
We strongly believe that as a peak body serving all in Australia, our leadership must reflect the diversity of the population; our events must be equitably accessible to all; and we must always treat each other equitably and inclusively.
We have proposed tangible improvements for equity and inclusivity in the PHAA SIG Convenors and Branch Presidents’ Toolkit, Conference Toolkit, Catering Policy, Membership Form, and events, starting with the annual Australian Public Health Conferences.
We collaborated with the Students and Young Professionals in Public Health Group to make the annual Mentoring Program more equitable and inclusive for under-served groups.
We have advocated for a PHAA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commitment Statement, and engaged the Board and National Office on ways to be more inclusive and equitable – to walk the talk.
Taking bold steps to raise awareness about neglected and uncomfortable issues comes with inevitable challenges.
Some parties are not ready to face ugly truths about the status quo, explore blind spots, acknowledge privileges, or commit to change.
Others may acknowledge inequities and non-inclusive practices, but make excuses as to why change is too hard.
Others pay lip service of support and hope that the issues we raise will eventually be forgotten.
Some of our challenges have been deeply painful and personally triggering – our work, at times, feels like opening Pandora’s Box of relentless ugliness.
But let us never forget the last item released from Pandora’s Box: hope.
DEI SIG finds hope among our fellow members, who are equally passionate and equally battered and bruised from seemingly unwinnable fights.
We lend our ears, hearts, passion, strength, and hope to one another.
Our hope is replenished each time a PHAA member thanks us for what we do.
We find hope in those ‘ah-ha’ moments, when we find new insights on how to make the world a better place.
We feel hope and pride when we are invited to collaborate, speak, and mentor others in DEI matters.
Our collective dream is that one day this SIG won’t be needed; that everybody walks the talk in diversity, equity and inclusion; that we put ourselves out of the job as the world becomes accepting and equitable to all.
The current climate sadly suggests that this group remains necessary and will persist for the foreseeable future.
We have much to be proud of: let’s celebrate our achievements.
We still have far to go: let’s gaze with hope.
For those who have been around the block with us: let’s continue our journey.
For those who are new to the DEI SIG: be proud – you are joining a worthwhile cause.
We congratulate the PHAA DEI SIG on its fifth anniversary.
Brahm Marjadi is a PHAA DEI SIG Founding Member, Inaugural Convenor (2019-2022) and Committee Member (2022 to date). Paul Gardiner is a PHAA DEI SIG Founding Member and Committee Member (2019 to date). Kristen Glenister is a PHAA DEI SIG Committee Member (2020-2022) and Co-Convenor (2022 to date). Joanne Flavel is a PHAA DEI SIG Committee Member (2021-2022) and Co-Convenor (2022 to date).
The Establishing Committee Members of DEI SIG, in alphabetical first name order, were: B Marjadi, L Merone, P Gardiner, T Dune, V Lee, and V Mapedzahama. The 15 supporting members were A Taket, B Bernardino, C Rigby, D Jeyapalan, F Perales, J Amin, J Ritchie, K McBride, L DelFabbro, P Strauss, R Franklin, S Kaladharan, T Govindaraju, T Woodruff, and V Yii.
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