As a board member in the non-profit sector and an adviser to start-ups, I think diversity is completely achievable.
I look at this as a matter of will.
Any CEO or chair that wants to see a broader mix of people around the table just needs to ask for it.
This has been true of my own experiences and my perceptions of corporate Australia. I don’t believe it when anyone says they cannot find qualified women.
We are living in a golden age of diversity that will only get better. The talent is there and available. The onus predominantly lies with the chairs in organisations to make it happen.
While Company Directors has a female board representation target of 30% by 2018, which it’s confident it will reach, I am more concerned about government boards and believe more needs to be done to demonstrate what business can and should achieve.
Earlier this year Women on Boards released its Boardroom Diversity Index finding that “conservative governments are bad for women“. No matter where you sit on the political paradigm, you will be hard pressed to look at the data and think otherwise.
Between 2013 and 2015 the Commonwealth, Queensland and West Australian governments all went backwards on women’s representation on government boards. The problem is particularly dire in Queensland with Women on Boards finding QLD state owned corporations were down a massive 13.6%.
The drops are especially significant when you consider the previous Labor government’s Boardlinks program, which featured a 40% female target.
The Women on Boards data backed research I first started looking into last year, when I became concerned about the lack of progress for women on government boards.
I found that chairs and ministers had, at best, a superficial understanding and commitment to diversity. Too often traditional gender stereotypes came up, with women being pigeonholed into social policy roles in government, and not being given infrastructure and economic portfolios.
The four worst performing departments on gender diversity are the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Defence, Employment and Veterans’ Affairs.
When Prime Minister Tony Abbott was elected in 2013 he said that he would govern for all Australian’s and that “Australia was open for business”. When it comes to women, and women’s representation in government, he has not done either.
Government has a chance to show business what they are missing out on when it comes to diversity, to support women and develop Australia. But our government is simply not taking the lead.
We know that a quota is a blunt instrument, but with the right support it can be a powerful one for long-term systemic change.
For the sake of the nation we need to see a homegrown example that quotas work and that organisations develop with them. Combining quotas with training for the board will mitigate any negative impacts that quotas bring.
If things don’t change there comes a time where government needs to intervene. The Liberal Party is going to be cautious of talking about quotas for business, so it should show business that they have nothing to worry about.
Mathias Cormann, as the minister responsible, should be working on implementing greater support for women into government roles. The current system seems to be failing.
The time has come for quotas on government boards. It is time government led on diversity.