Lauren McTier and other staff in the School of Nursing and Midwifery's Centre for Simulation reviewed 26 forms currently used as part of the school's learning activities to ensure the forms were inclusive of intersex and gender diverse people and people with other protected attributes in the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Act 2013 and the Equal Opportunity Act 2010.  The recommendations included:

• The patient names could represent non-binary and gender diverse names (eg Sam, Jude, Skye and Robbi).
• It is best practice to ask for Family Namerather than Surname and Given Name(s)rather than First name/Christian name as this is more culturally inclusive.
• It is rarely necessary to ask for someone's relationship status. However if this is necessary, ensure you ask marital or relationship status rather than marital status as per the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Act 2013.
• Intersex should never be included as an option for sex or gender, as many people with intersex variations do not identify their sex or gender as intersex. When asking the question use this format: Do you have an intersex variation? Yes/No/Don't know, Prefer not to say.
• Ask Sex as ‘Sex assigned at birth' to ensure that this question refers to biological characteristics and is not conflated with gender.
• When asking someone's Sex assigned at birth you must always ask Gender to acknowledge that there is a difference between sex and gender. Ask gender as a multiple choice question Gender: Female/ Male/ Gender Diverse/Prefer to self-describe.
• To ask about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background of a patient, ask:  Are you of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent? Yes, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/ Yes, Aboriginal/ Yes, Torres Strait Islander/ No, neither Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
• When using titles, ensure that Mx is provided as an option for those who do not identify with the other titles provided. For example, if someone's gender identity is non-binary they may not feel that ‘Ms' or ‘Mr' is appropriate for their gender identity.
• Many people who speak multiple languages will have a language that they are most comfortable communicating in depending on the situation. Therefore, ask for ‘Preferred language' rather than ‘language spoken'.
• In some instances, consider using patient rather than woman or mother, in order to be more inclusive of people who give birth but may not necessarily identify as a mother, such as in the case of surrogates and people whose child will be adopted, as well as gender diverse people.

As part of the unit HSE102 Functional human anatomy, Simon Feros and his colleagues in the School of Exercises and Nutrition Science have incorporated a video in a practical activity on functional anatomy of the elbow, wrist and hand from the Physitrack platform that features a man with a physical disability, where his legs have been amputated below his knees. The video shows the man doing the exercise being helped by leg straps to fasten his body to the bench.

Students are encouraged to watch the 1-minute video and discuss what they notice in relation to the client performing the exercise, and how they might manage a similar situation in their work environment in the future. This approach represents an authentic learning/assessment activity because students will be working in professions and helping clients or athletes of varying ability, age, gender and cultural backgrounds.

In addition, the weekly cloud-based learning content including images and video is being enhanced with more inclusive resources such as featuring paralympians. This unit is taught in multiple disciplines and courses in the Faculty of Health.

Bryony Mcneill and Candice McKenzie made a series of changes to the case study ‘Endocrine and Life Cycle 7: Claire Jamieson’ in the Bachelor of Medicine to represent more diverse groups in the curriculum than were visible previously. This case uses the 6-week infant check as a vehicle to discuss normal developmental milestones and develop awareness of warning signs in infant development. The case also covers the physiology of breastfeeding, and the pathophysiology and management of mastitis and breast abscess. Relevant changes into the case study included:

• Claire Jamieson has a female partner Zahra.
• Claire and Zahra’s first baby has an Aboriginal background.
• In the factors that can affect developmental growth of the baby the following question was included: ‘Is the baby of Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander descent?’ (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to experience adverse outcomes during pregnancy, such as pre-term birth and low birth weight. It is important that the appropriate support is provided to address the risk factors associated with these poorer health outcomes.)
• In the Patient History, the baby is described in the following way: ‘… as are the majority of Indigenous babies, the baby is fully breastfed, and has been gaining weight since her birth’.
• In the physical examination of the baby, any reference to the skin colour was changed and described as: ‘She is healthy in colour’.

Jaclyn Broadbent and her colleagues in the School of Psychology developed the ‘Psychology inclusive curriculum checklist' to ensure all students will have opportunities to see people like themselves reflected in the curriculum. This tool is to be used from 2021 onwards by unit teams initially in psychology units within the Bachelor and Honours degrees and Graduate Diploma.

Download checklist:

• Psychology inclusive curriculum checklist (DOCX, 27kb)
• Psychology inclusive curriculum checklist (PDF, 143kb)

Dreamson, N, Thomas, G, Lee Hong, A & Kim, S 2016, Culturally inclusive learning for Indigenous students in a learning management system (LMS), Report submitted to the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), Curtin University, Perth, retrieved 10 September 2020.

Morgan, H & Houghton, A-M 2011, Generic considerations of inclusive curriculum design, Higher Education Academy, York, UK, retrieved 10 September 2020.

Ward, NK & Gale N 2016, LGBTQ-inclusivity in the higher education curriculum: a best practice guide, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, retrieved 21 January 2019.