The George Institute for Global Health has earned its second SAGE Cygnet Award, recognising the organisation's continued commitment to addressing gender pay equity. Cygnet Awards, conferred by Science and Gender Equity Australia (SAGE), recognise organisations that implement policies and practices aimed at removing barriers to equitable workplace participation. This award builds on the Institute's Athena Swan Bronze accreditation achieved in 2019 and the first SAGE Cygnet Award for promoting a flexible workplace for parents and carers.
To ensure there is broad representation across the Institute, this work is led by a multi-disciplinary committee, chaired by early to mid-career researcher in the Health Systems division, Associate Professor Anna Palagyi.
"By taking thoughtful, structured steps forward and remaining focused on long-term change, we've proven that progress on pay equity is achievable.
This second Cygnet milestone reflects The George Institute's commitment to building a workplace characterised by fairness and inclusion, where everyone feels valued and supported.
By:Associate Professor Anna Palagyi
Chair of the Institute's Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team
Chief People Officer Sarah Bench said that there had been a range of initiatives over the past 12 months that had contributed to this latest achievement, including:
- removing the link between pay and performance ratings,
- establishing a global career pathways framework, and
- benchmarking salaries against external markets.
A new pay equity dashboard now enables quarterly monitoring, while standardised salary ranges in job advertisements help prevent bias in negotiations.
"Pay equity is a fundamental driver of justice, dignity and respect within our institute and in the work that we do. For this reason, it is crucial that we continue to reduce gender pay gaps and advance pay equity across multiple diverse groups.
By:Sarah Bench
Chief People Officer, The George Institute for Global Health
Backed by SMART goals, leadership oversight, and transparent reporting, the approach was adapted in response to continuous staff feedback to ensure fairness and accountability. The organisation is now focused on improving staff awareness and engagement with these policies and new targets have been set for continued improvement.
"The most significant changes we made were ensuring that all roles were remunerated fairly and consistently, and we built new systems to prevent inequities in future remuneration decisions.
By:Leanne Tea
Head of HR Australia, The George Institute for Global Health
Athena Swan, a Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) initiative, is an accreditation program widely recognised as the only international framework dedicated to advancing workplace gender equity, diversity, and inclusion within the science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) sectors.
"Reducing gender pay gaps requires organisations to be honest about legacy systems and deliberate about changing them. The George Institute has shown how strategic targets, transparency and ongoing review can shift outcomes in a measurable way, while keeping equity firmly on the organisational agenda.
By:Dr Janin Bredehoeft
CEO, Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE)
