Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Thales

At Thales, we believe our workforce should experience a culture where people are respected and valued each time they: log on to their computer, walk on to site, speak with a colleague, engage with a customer and meet with their manager. In other words, each time you work with us, we want you to feel empowered and supported to do your best and to bring your whole self to work. 

The importance of creating this shared respect for one another is formalised in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) strategy; Respect@Thales. This strategy outlines our commitment to our employees and the communities in which we operate to continuously contribute to an inclusive, safe and respectful environment.

Here are our key initiative to support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) at Thales Australia and New Zealand:

Thales is an officially certified Family Inclusive Workplace, joining the ranks of progressive organisations dedicated to fostering a Family Friendly Workplace culture. This achievement reflects our commitment to creating an environment that supports the needs of our employees and their families. At Thales, we are strong advocates of work-life balance and pride ourselves on providing a supportive atmosphere that empowers our team members to excel in both their personal and professional lives.

Firmly committed to fighting all forms of discrimination, Thales strives to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusion. We are a Bronze Employer of the Australian Workplace Equality Agency (AWEI), a national benchmark on LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Just some of the activities in this space are: joining the Pride in Diversity Group, creation of the Thales LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group, provision of online digital LGBTQ+ training to staff, creating educational videos, launching visual cues such as rainbow lanyards and pins and hosting online keynote events around inclusion and recognition. For the LGBTQ+ community of Thales, this means having support networks available which work collaboratively to develop and maintain inclusion, safety and prosperity.

Thales Australia’s vision for reconciliation is for all Australians to understand, respect and be proud of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. Our journey represents our commitment to respect the past, acknowledge the diversity across Australia, and come together as one to build an inspiring future. 

Just some of our activities are:

“Respect@Thales is how we treat everyone and protect the wellbeing of our workforce. By empowering everyone to contribute their best we enable better business performance”

Ronán Carolan, Vice President, Human Resources

Thales prides itself on supporting the Australian Defence Force, both while they are serving and when they leave service.

To support our commitment to the Australian Defence Force, the Respect@Thales council launched the Thales Australia Veterans’ Committee. The purpose of the Veterans’ Committee is to provide advice and governance to Thales Australia’s leadership and employees on the issues facing Veterans and their families.  The key pillar of the committee's strategy is to assist veterans with transitioning from Defence to private industry. This reflects and acknowledges the highly valuable contribution that veterans make to a variety of industries and furthers Thales's goal to be an employer of choice for veterans; where they can use their talent to continue supporting Australia's national interests. 

At Thales Australia we embrace diversity and it takes a mix of minds, experiences and perspectives for innovation to flourish. We recognise that veterans bring a wealth of knowledge and insight about our key customer, the ADF.

Thales offers up to 30 days paid leave for Reservists. Thales recognises that by supporting Reserve employees, we are further assisting Defence capability and supporting the safety and wellbeing of all Australians. Reservists bring back into Thales direct skills and knowledge developed during military operations, exercises and training courses that enable us to better anticipate and meet the needs of our customers.

We are committed to creating a culture of equality across our business, where opportunities for growth, experience and career advancement is not affected by the gender that our employees identify as. We want our people to feel respected, safe and included at work and our Gender Equality Actions outlines our commitment through:

Challenging gender stereotypes to promote equality. For example, our Parental Leave Policy is inclusive of all genders and we encourage gender neutral parental care, men’s participation in caring, and recognise a broad definition of families.

Strengthening positive and equal relationships through supporting employees affected by domestic and family violence

Championing equal opportunities at work by educating our leaders about inclusive decision-making, pay equity analysis, and monitoring gender equality in leadership.

Listening to our people to understand their experiences through Respect@Thales initiatives, Employee Resource Group activities and by analysing data from our engagement survey.

WGEA Compliance: Every year Thales submits Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) report. The WGEA is an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The Agency is charged with promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces.

Additionally, Thales is endorsed by WORK180 as a workplace committed to equity and inclusion, promoting flexible work arrangements, shared caring responsibilities and career development.

Thales Australia's WGEA Gender Pay Gap Report 2024 is available here.

At Thales, we seek to promote Respect@Thales and become a company that’s reflective of the demographic makeup of society by celebrating and supporting disabilities and neurodiversity, including those that are hidden, within our current and future workforce

Enabling all employees  to participate fully in employment opportunities is an important part of our social responsibility as an organisation. We are active in promoting events that raise awareness of physical, as well as hidden, disabilities and the positive effects that being engaged in meaningful work can have on these individuals lives.

We are committed to providing support throughout our current/future employee’s entire experience at Thales Australia. From offering reasonable adjustments throughout the job application and selection process, to the ability to participate in the Accessibility and Neurodiversity Employee Resource Group 

We are also partnering with the Australian Network on Disability; a national not-for-profit that helps us to develop the Accessibility and Inclusion Plan, review current policies, improve recruitment process, provide disability confidence training etc.