The Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Annual Report is prepared by the Office for Women each year, and outlines performance against the Australian Government’s targets for gender balance on Australian Government boards. These targets are:

• Women should hold 50 per cent of Australian Government board positions overall.
• Women should hold at least 40 per cent of positions on Australian Government boards at the individual board level.

These targets were introduced on 1 July 2016, replacing the previous gender diversity target for women to hold 40 per cent of Australian Government board positions overall. However, until 2022-23, data was only collected for the 50 per cent target.

In the 2022-2023 financial year, the Australian Government continued to meet the target of women holding 50 per cent of overall reportable positions on Government boards. As at 30 June 2023, women held 51.6 per cent of reportable Australian Government board positions, the highest rate of representation on record.

Women also received a majority, with 52.9 per cent, of new appointments to Australian Government boards in 2022-2023.

The 2022-2023 Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Annual Report is the first time that Government is able to report on the representation of women at the individual board level. The data collected throughout the 2022-2023 financial year showed that 78.7 per cent of boards have women represented in at least 40 per cent of reportable positions.

2022-2023 data also shows that women held 42.3 per cent of reportable Chair and Deputy Chair positions on Australian Government boards. While an increase of 1.3 per centage points, at this rate of change and without further action, it could take at least six years to reach gender parity in Chair and Deputy Chair positions.

While broader progress has been positive, in 2022–2023 there was a decline in nominations for women made by external organisations. Women received 45.2 per cent of external nominations – a decrease of 1.2 percentage points compared to 2021-2022.

It is important to note that 2022-2023 portfolio level data is not directly comparable to 2021-2022 portfolio level data in this report due to Machinery of Government changes which altered Government portfolio structures.

For more information about what appointments are considered as in-scope for reporting, refer to Appendix A.

Review into Public Sector Board Appointments Processes 2023

In February 2023, the Government announced the appointment of Ms Lynelle Briggs AO to lead a Review into Public Sector Board Appointments Processes. The Review seeks to propose processes to improve effectiveness of Public Sector Boards and bolster integrity. The Government will publish the final Report on the APS Reform website.