Breast feeding project and secretarial initiative rewarded
A project supporting breastfeeding women in the University environment, and the UQ Secretaries Association have jointly won the University's 1999 Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action recognition awards.
Professor Mary Black of the North Queensland Clinical School and the Secretaries' Association today jointly accepted a $2000 award at a breakfast at the University's Staff and Graduates Club at St Lucia.
Director of the University's Office of Gender Equity Gay Mason said the award was an initiative of the University's Senate Standing Committee on the Status of Women.
"It acknowledges and rewards outstanding contributions to the advancement of equal opportunity and affirmative action within the University," she said.
o Professor Black said that balancing work and family commitments was increasingly becoming more of an issue as staff and students with responsibilities for other family members endeavoured to pursue successful and demanding careers. "This initiative is about extending parental career options with a particular emphasis on the needs of nursing mothers in the workplace," she said.
Professor Black said elements of this strategy included installing change mats, toys, books and children's chairs; providing quiet places for expressing milk; adapting work schedules to allow for nursing mothers' needs; and flexible work practices including working from home.
"Community groups and students see us as being child and family friendly. For our work with indigenous communities this can be a very important aid to breaking down communication barriers," she said. "Both staff and students have indicated that they perform better in this positive work environment."
o UQ Secretaries Association president Coral Pink said the Association provided an important avenue for exchanging information on opportunities and developments within the secretarial profession and the wider working environment. The award recognised a group vital to the University's success in achieving its objectives.
"As in other female-dominated professions, this group's profile is low-key and the worth of work performed is not always readily acknowledged," she said. "This means there are limited development and career advancement opportunities." Association initiatives have included career advancement workshops; seminars; a remote campus strategy; participation in developing family and study policies and opportunities to comment on changes which affect the status of women; an annual conference; and an Association-sponsored e-mail network (UQSecNet).
Media: Further information Coral Pink telephone 3365 1611, Professor Mary Black telephone 0740 503 670, Gay Mason telephone 07 3365 1140.
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