Does Australia need greater gender targets?

The Australian Public Service Commission data shows women make up 60 per cent of the public sector’s workforce. However, under half are in senior leadership positions.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) highlights a similar divide, with studies noting women in Australia hold 32.5 per cent of management positions, 19.4 per cent of CEO roles, and just 18 per cent of board chairs.

With this in mind, the University of South Australia (UniSA) is urging the government to revamp gender targets and do more in terms of implementing practice.

“Women constitute the majority of the Australian public sector workforce, but their representation in senior roles is not proportional,” said UniSA researcher Dr Jill Gould.

“Research shows that if we boost the number of women at executive levels, we increase the number of women in the ‘executive feeder’ levels below. We often refer to this as the ‘trickle-down effect’.

“It seems logical that gender targets would increase this positive effect, yet when we explored this across multiple public service departments, we found that trickle-down effects were inconsistent across departments,” she explained.

Dr Gould has urged C-suite members to lead this change by being active in implementing support to foster women leaders.

“The chief executive must be on board to champion gender targets. Strong support from the top, a ‘loud’ voice that supports change, and an open approach to addressing resistance to change, are vital,” said Dr Gould.

“Gender parity also relies on having the right practices in place — at least two women on shortlists helps increase female representation in senior roles, and leadership training supports women progress through organisations. Some of these important practices were not in place in the departments where targets were not working.”

Dr Gould continued: “Targets must be supported by both the right practices and a chief executive who is an internal gender champion. When leaders demonstrate support of women in leadership, they create the right environment for change. But, even with the right mix of practices, if these are not consistently supported across all levels of the organisation, gender targets will fail.”

Fellow UniSA researcher, Professor Carol Kulik agrees, noting approaches need to be refined and government plans need to be smoother.

“Any commitment to gender equity requires focus, but when gender targets are lost in government strategic plans that include up to 100 targets — including multiple gender targets — it will be hard to achieve consensus about which target to prioritise,” Professor Kulik outlined.

“Accountability is needed for achieving gender targets — real accountability, with teeth. There’s no doubt that Australia is making progress on many aspects of gender equality, but unless the public service refines its goals and delivers dedicated leadership and evidence-based supports, the glass ceiling will continue to be as strong as ever.”