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Excellence in Staff Development SA Ambulance Service Gender Transition and Affirmation Procedure
SA Ambulance Service
Team: Georgina Gladigau
The SAAS Gender Transition and Affirmation Procedure was released in August 2022. This procedure outlines the roles and responsibilities of executives, managers, and staff when a staff member wishes to undertake gender affirmation in the workplace. The procedure has also been designed to be flexible, in order to meet the needs of the individual, as no gender affirmation process is the same.
A number of supporting resources were also developed to provide more in-depth direction on certain topics. These include:
• A Plan template. This is intended to assist a staff member and their manager to discuss the affirmation process in a structured way. This ensures that all parties have a shared understanding of what will happen, when it will happen, and what supports are required.
• A guide to changing name and gender at SAAS. This guide provides the staff member with information to assist them to update their details where required, for example, on their uniform, in their email address and across rostering and HR systems.
• A guide for how to announce a staff member’s transition. Should the affirming staff member seek for their manager to announce changes to the rest of the team/workplace, this guide provides tips and a template for how this may be done.
• A checklist for managers. This is an overarching list of key steps that a leader can take to ensure that they are appropriately supporting their affirming staff member. The launch of the procedure also coincided with awareness building training for leaders. This was delivered by an expert facilitator with lived experience as a trans person. The purpose of this training was to provide leaders with an understanding of different gender identities, language and terminology, and allow them to ask questions in a safe, supportive environment. This training was delivered live but is also available as an eLearning module for any staff member who would like to improve their gender diversity awareness.
