Qantas staff told to avoid ‘gender inappropriate’ words | Adelaide Now
QANTAS has been accused of “overstepping the mark” after telling staff to avoid “gender inappropriate” terms such as husband, wife, mum and dad.
An information package was sent out to airline employees by People and Culture group executive Lesley Grant ahead of the company’s Spirit of Inclusion month, according to The Daily Telegraph.
In the booklet, staff are advised to stop using certain words that people may take offence to, particularly those in the LGBTI community.
“Always using the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ can reinforce the idea that people are always in heterosexual relationships,” the information pack reads.
“In the same way, always referring to ‘mum and dad’ can make many families feel excluded — both same-sex couples and single-parent families.”
Instead, staff are encouraged to use the phrases “partner”, “spouse” and “parents" so as not to discriminate against LGBTI families.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott told 2GB that it was “political correctness that’s gone way over the top”.
“Frankly if companies like Qantas want to give their customers a better deal, they can scrap all these inclusion units, just scrap them, save the money because it’s just rubbish this idea that we need a corporate thought police,” Mr Abbott said.
