The Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Report, prepared annually by the Office for Women, outlines performance against the Australian Government’s target for gender balance on Australian Government Boards.

On 1 July 2016, the Government committed to a target of women holding 50 per cent of Government board positions overall, and men and women each holding at least 40 per cent of positions on individual boards. This target replaced the previous gender diversity target of women holding 40 per cent of Australian Government Board positions overall.

In the 2021-22 Financial Year, the Australian Government has met its target of women holding 50 per cent of Government board positions. At 30 June 2022, women held 51.4 per cent across all Government board appointments, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from 30 June 2021.

Since the 2020-21 report, there has also been positive progress across other metrics:

• As at 30 June 2022, women held 41 per cent of Chair and Deputy Chair positions across Australian Government Boards, an increase of 1.9 percentage points since 30 June 2021.
• As at 30 June 2022, women made up 54.4 per cent of new appointments to Australian Government board positions, an increase of 2.2 percentage points since 30 June 2021.

However findings from the 2021-22 results have also highlighted where further effort is needed to achieve balanced gender representation.

• Of the 112 nominations for Government board positions by external organisations over 2021-2022, 46.4 per cent of nominees were women – a decrease of 3.6 percentage points from 2020-21.

Results in this report reflect the portfolio structure prior to the 2022 election. Post-election machinery of government changes will be reflected in the 2022-23 report.

The Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Report — Guidelines determine the scope of reporting for portfolios (see Appendix A).

Current environment

The labour force participation rate of women in Australia was at 62.3 per cent in August 2022.[i] Since 2013, women’s participation rate has increased from 58.9 per cent, an overall increase of 3.4 percentage points.[ii] Yet women remain under-represented in senior leadership and management positions in virtually all sectors.

International context

In the 2022 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index, Australia ranked 43rd overall and 38th in Economic Participation and Opportunity.[iii]

Achieving gender equality is an area of increasing focus for many nations. Although no country has yet achieved full gender parity, the top 10 economies have closed at least 80 per cent of their gender gaps, with Iceland (90.8 per cent) leading the global ranking. New Zealand ranked fourth on the Index in our region, closing 84.1 per cent of their gender gaps.[iv]

Parliament

Women make up 44.5 per cent of the 47th Australian Parliament and 43.5 per cent of Cabinet.[v] The Government has committed $5.0 million over five years from 2022-23, to fund organisations to equip and encourage more women across the political spectrum to run for public office at local, state and federal levels.

Private sector

As at August 2022, women make up 24.3 per cent of board directors of Australia’s top

300 companies (ASX300).[vi] A total of six boards in the ASX300 do not have any women, and a further 40 have Boards with only one female. The 2022 Chief Executive Women Senior Executive Census reported there are 18 female CEOs in the ASX300, and at the current rate of change it would take 100 years to achieve gender balance in CEO roles.[vii]

Government actions

The Government is committed to advancing gender equality as a national priority. Gender equality supports women and men to thrive, making our economy stronger, more inclusive and more sustainable.

Through the introduction of gender responsive budgeting, the Government is putting gender equality at the heart of policy and decision making.

The Government is also committed to restoring Australia’s leadership on gender equality by introducing a National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality to guide work towards its goal of Australia being one of the most gender-equal countries in the world.

We have also established the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce to provide independent advice to Government on a range of issues facing women in Australia. They will play a key role in informing the development of the National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality.

The 2022-23 Budget together with the Women’s Budget Statement outlines the steps we are taking to drive meaningful change.

 

[i]Gender indicators | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

[ii] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Australia, June 2013, ABS cat. no. 6202.0, ABS, Canberra 2013

[iii] Global index WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf (weforum.org)

[iv] Global index WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf (weforum.org)

[v] Statistical Information (aph.gov.au)

[vi] Quarterly Gender Diversity Report, Australian Institute of Company Directors June-August 2022

[vii] Chief Executive Women Senior Executive Census 2022