LGBTQ+ Workers in Religiously Affiliated Workplaces in Australia

LGBTQ+ workers employed in religiously affiliated education, social welfare, and health care workplaces experience significant discrimination in Australia. This is important as approximately one third of education and one quarter of health care and social welfare is government funded and religiously affiliated. We conducted a survey of 347 LGBTQ+ workers employed in religiously affiliated education, health care, and social welfare in Australia. Most of the data was collected in 2021. Results indicate a range of experiences, from very affirming workplaces through to workplaces with high levels of discrimination. Education workplaces tend to be more religious than social welfare and health care organisations, and the experiences of discrimination in educational workplaces are more likely to relate to employment insecurity grounded in the inability to be out. In addition, the results indicate that LGBTQ+ people in our data working in religiously affiliated workplaces are more religious than the general LGBTQ+ population. The presence, or absence, of an organisational inclusion policy was closely related to levels of workplace discrimination, such as snide remarks, mental health problems, and feeling unsafe in the workplace. The presence or absence of an inclusion policy in religiously affiliated education, social welfare, and health care is strongly associated with workplace LGBTQ+ worker experiences of harassment and discrimination. LGBTQ+ workers in religiously affiliated educational workplaces are more likely to experience employment insecurity and are less likely to be out in the workplace. Australian government policy currently permits various forms of LGBTQ+ discrimination in religiously affiliated education, social welfare, and health care. This has significant negative consequences for LGBTQ+ workers.