The Coalition Government is making strong progress on its target for women to hold 50 per cent of Government board positions, with more women than ever now on Government boards.
As at 30 June 2018, women now hold 45.8 per cent of positions, an increase of 3.1 percentage points since 30 June 2017. Across the 2017-18 financial year, 53.1 per cent of new appointments were women.
The Minister for Women, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, said the results were the highest since public reporting began and demonstrate the real impact the Government’s efforts are having.
“There are now more women appointed to Government boards than ever before,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“It is fantastic to see six Commonwealth portfolios have reached or exceeded the 50 per cent target, up from two portfolios in 30 June 2017, and a further four portfolios are within only five percentage points of meeting the target.”
“We know that the different perspectives women bring to the decision-making process can have a positive impact on the outcomes delivered.”
The Coalition Government will continue to work with stakeholders and state and territory governments to improve the gender diversity of their nominations to Government board positions.
The Government is also expanding its BoardLinks program to allow any woman who is interested in being considered for a Government board appointment to register on the database. The BoardLinks database is used by the Government to source candidates for appointment to Government boards.
Inclusion on the BoardLinks database has been limited to individuals personally endorsed by a BoardLinks Champion, Government Minister, or Departmental Secretary, but self-nominations will now be encouraged to expand the diversity of candidates with a range of skills and expertise.
“The BoardLinks program is already a highly successful tool for connecting the right women to the right opportunities. The Government is expanding and diversifying the BoardLinks database to enable self-nominations. This will greatly expand the pool of candidates with a range of skills and expertise,” Minister O’Dwyer concluded.
Anyone interested in nominating to the BoardLinks database is encouraged to register at https://www.boardlinks.gov.au/register-boardlinks-candidate.