Macquarie University’s excellence in workplace support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people was recognised at a special luncheon in Sydney on Friday.

The awards are organised by Pride in Diversity, Australia’s first and only national employer support program for the inclusion of LGBTI people in the workplace.

The Top 20 list is determined using the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), a free service provided annually by Pride In Diversity that evaluates and benchmarks LGBTI inclusiveness in Australian workplaces.

Macquarie University has featured among the top 20 organisations in Australia for LGBTI employee support in all four years the awards have been run.

Winner of the Employer of the Year award for 2014 was the Australian arm of global financial services firm Goldman Sachs. Other organisations in the Top 20 included major banks Westpac, CBA, ANZ and NAB; the Australian Federal Police, IBM, Lend Lease and American Express. Only two universities made the list apart from Macquarie: Curtin and the University of Western Australia.

Speakers at the sold-out event at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney included Pride In Diversity patron the Hon. Michael Kirby and Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor.

“Pride in Diversity congratulates all the organisations recognised today on their significant achievement and for showing great leadership in the area of diversity and inclusion,” Pride in Diversity Director Dawn Hough said.

Find out more about support for sexuality and gender diversity at Macquarie.