Executive summary
The Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Report is prepared annually by the Australian Government Office for Women, and reports on the Government’s performance against its gender diversity target.
On 1 July 2016, the Government’s new 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, came into effect. This new target replaced the previous gender diversity target of women holding 40 per cent of Australian Government board positions overall.
This Report includes details of both whole-of-Government and individual portfolio performance against the Government’s gender diversity target in 2016-17. As at 30 June 2017, women held 42.7 per cent of Australian Government board positions. This is the highest outcome since public reporting on the gender balance of Government boards began in 2010-11.
Statistics on new appointments made in 2016-17 show how individual portfolios have progressed towards meeting the target. Of the 729 new appointments across Government made in 2016-17, 46.2 per cent of appointees were women. As at 30 June 2017, women comprised over 50 per cent of new appointments made by seven of the 18 portfolios.
In addition, the number of women across portfolios that hold Chair and Deputy Chair roles are reported. Specifically reporting on the number of women who hold these senior positions is important in understanding women’s representation at higher levels of leadership.
The scope of reporting on gender balance on Government boards is determined by the Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Report 2016-17 – Guidelines (see Appendix).