News

Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) is delighted to announce it has been awarded the Rainbow Tick, recognising the leading travel insurer’s commitment to providing an inclusive and progressive workplace.

The Rainbow Tick is awarded to organisations that have demonstrated they are a safe and welcoming place for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. The term “rainbow” encompasses people who are LGBTTQIA+, which includes, but is not limited to, those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, takatāpui, queer/questioning, intersex and asexual.

As part of the Rainbow Tick accreditation process, organisations must complete a Diversity & Inclusion assessment process, which tests whether a workplace understands and welcomes sexual and gender diversity, and involves ongoing quality improvement to maintain the accreditation.

SCTI Head of Operations Wayne Carter-Stuart has been a driving force during the process and says he’s proud to work for an organisation that values diversity and openness.

“Receiving the Rainbow Tick is an important achievement for SCTI - and not just for our increasingly diverse team,” he said.

“The Rainbow Tick also signals to our customers that we understand the complexities they may face when they travel to certain parts of the world. They know we’re going to recognise their partnerships and that they can be their true selves with us. Being able to trust a business with very personal information is really important when it comes to travel insurance, especially in times of need.”

Reflecting on his own experience since moving to New Zealand with his Kiwi husband more than a decade ago, Carter-Stuart says SCTI has always fostered a safe, inclusive culture for LGBTTQIA+ employees.

“I’ve been comfortable working at SCTI since day one – I can be myself. I know from personal experience that it takes a lot of energy to pretend to be someone else, so it makes a massive difference if you don’t feel like you need to do that at work.”

SCTI CEO Jo McCauley says Rainbow Tick accreditation reflects the value that SCTI places on diversity and inclusion.

“The process of achieving accreditation has been a valuable journey for us to go on,” she said. “Our team has told us that the culture at SCTI is like a family and it’s incredibly important to us that our employees feel supported and safe at work,” she said.

Rainbow Tick Programme Manager José Taiapa says the belief that SCTI is a place where everyone can bring their whole and authentic selves to work was one of the most consistently held views.

“This is an important foundation in building positive and inclusive workplace culture and it’s great to see such enthusiasm and understanding of the importance of LGBTTQIA+ inclusion at SCTI,” Taiapa said.

“We’ve been impressed by SCTI’s willingness to not only say the right things, but to follow that up by doing the right things, too. SCTI is an excellent example to other organisations throughout Aotearoa looking to create a solid culture of inclusivity.”

SCTI joins Southern Cross Health Society as the entities within the Southern Cross group to have achieved the Rainbow Tick, with Southern Cross Healthcare currently progressing on this journey as well.

ENDS