Queensland’s Department of Education is ending its membership of Pride in Diversity, the national LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion programme run by ACON.
The department confirmed it had begun withdrawing from the initiative following a review of its external memberships, saying continued participation no longer aligned with its current requirements.
The decision comes after a Queensland Parliament petition called on the department to leave the programme. As of 1 September, the petition had attracted 1,000 signatures.
Pride In Diversity Was A Staff Programme
The Department of Education joined Pride in Diversity in 2018 and was named a Platinum Employer in the 2026 Australian Workplace Equality Index.
Pride in Diversity supports employers with LGBTQ+ workplace policies, staff training, employee networks and inclusion strategies. It also administers the Australian Workplace Equality Index, which benchmarks participating organisations.
Despite claims in the petition that the department’s membership influenced classroom content and student activities, the department has said its participation was focused on staff.
Its own Proud at Work strategy similarly describes a workplace initiative designed to improve the safety, wellbeing and engagement of LGBTQ+ employees.
Petition Targeted The Department’s ACON Membership
The petition, launched by Queensland mother Nerissa Pace, argues that the department’s relationship with ACON lacked transparency and should be ended.
It also cites a survey of 1,072 Australian parents, including 190 from Queensland, to claim widespread concern about the relationship.
However, publicly available information about the survey’s methodology and independence appears limited, making it difficult to assess how representative those findings are.
The petition also uses language such as “transgender ideology” and claims the programme influences schools, while Pride in Diversity has consistently described its work as workplace-focused rather than a student education initiative.
Department Had Been Recognised For Trans Workplace Inclusion
The department’s 2026 Platinum project examined the workplace experiences of trans and gender-diverse employees.
It gathered staff experiences to identify gaps in inclusion, safety and visibility, with the findings used to develop resources for managers, human resources teams and other employees.
The project also aimed to help the department meet its obligations under Queensland and federal workplace, human rights and anti-discrimination laws.
Pride in Diversity says its purpose is to reduce workplace exclusion, invisibility, homophobia, transphobia and stigma.
LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion Faces New Scrutiny
The department has not said that Pride in Diversity breached any law or policy.
Instead, it says the decision followed a broader review of external memberships.
For LGBTQ+ staff, however, the withdrawal raises questions about what will replace the programme’s training, benchmarking and inclusion support, particularly after the department was recognised nationally for its work in this area only months ago.
The department has not yet detailed whether its existing LGBTQ+ workplace strategies will continue unchanged after leaving Pride in Diversity.
