Mentions of ‘gender’ scrubbed from Queensland Office for Women website amid alleged effort to ‘dewokify’
The Queensland Office for Women has removed numerous references to 'gender' from its website, sparking allegations of a government-led effort to 'dewokify' the public service. While former staff claim the move was directed by the minister, the government denies the claims.
Why it matters
This reflects ongoing ideological tensions regarding gender-inclusive language in government policy and the influence of political agendas on public-facing institutional communications.
Fiona Simpson, the Queensland minister for women, says claims that she deems the word ‘gender’ to be ‘on the nose’ and ‘loaded’ are utterly false. Photograph: Darren England/AAP Fiona Simpson, the Queensland minister for women, says claims that she deems the word ‘gender’ to be ‘on the nose’ and ‘loaded’ are utterly false. Photograph: Darren England/AAP Queensland politics Mentions of ‘gender’ scrubbed from Queensland Office for Women website amid alleged effort to ‘dewokify’ Comparisons of live and archived pages show more than 20 mentions have been removed, including in reference to the gender pay gap
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Prefer the Guardian on Google References to “gender equality” have been removed from the Queensland Office for Women’s website amid claims by former staffers that the Liberal National party government wants to “dewokify” the public service.
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