Image

Qantas tells staff to avoid gender language, like mum and dad, husband and wife

Qantas has told their employees to use “gender appropriate” language to avoid offending the LGBTQI community. According to the Daily Telegraph, an information booklet, issued by Quanta’s People and Culture group executive Lesley Grant, asks employees to stop using potentially offensive words such as “honey, darling and love.” Terms such as “partner” are also to be used…


Qantas has told their employees to use “gender appropriate” language to avoid offending the LGBTQI community. According to the Daily Telegraph, an information booklet, issued by Quanta’s People and Culture group executive Lesley Grant, asks employees to stop using potentially offensive words such as “honey, darling and love.”

Terms such as “partner” are also to be used in place of husband and wife, and “parents” instead of mum and dad. Also frowned upon are gender-inappropriate words such as guys, mankind, or chairman.

Language can make groups of people invisible. For example, the use of the term chairman can reinforce the idea that leaders are always men.

The airline has also advised staff to minimise “manteruptions.” According to the booklet, “Research shows that in many situations, including the workplace, men interrupt and speak over women, while the reverse rarely happens.”

Further, employees have been instructed to, recognise the reality that, “Australia was not settled peacefully. Describing the arrival of the Europeans as a ‘settlement’ is a view of Australian history from the perspective of England rather than Australia. Instead of settlement, try ‘colonisation,’ ‘occupation’ or ‘invasion.’”

The Caldron Pool Show

The Caldron Pool Show: #11 – Senator Alex Antic
The Caldron Pool Show: #15 – Laura Klassen
The Caldron Pool Show: #29 No Mere Mortals (with Toby Sumpter)
The Caldron Pool Show: #39 – Q&A (with Tom Foord)
Image

Support

If you value our work and would like to support us, you can do so by visiting our support page. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Visit our search page.

Copyright © 2023, Caldron Pool

Permissions

Everything published at Caldron Pool is protected by copyright and cannot be used and/or duplicated without prior written permission. Links and excerpts with full attribution are permitted. Published articles represent the opinions of the author and may not reflect the views of all contributors at Caldron Pool.