Speaking at the Women In Economics Network yesterday, Bowen said Australia is making far too little progress in dealing with gender inequality.
“Quotas do work, but it would be better if the private sector got its act together of its own volition,” he said.
“If not enough progress is made in the next couple of years to get more suitably qualified women on boards, quotas should be considered by the federal government.”
Bowen shared recent Australian Institute of Directors figures to show how the progress on women joining corporate boards has slowed, with new female appointments falling to just 30% in 2017, from 44% in 2016.
As of May, the AICD reports that 25.4% of ASX 200 board positions were held by women — marking significant progress from just 8.3% in 2009, but still indicating a long way to go to reach gender parity
Bowen noted that no woman has headed a national economic institution in Australia. “This needs to change soon,” he said
“When it comes to senior economic appointments within the purview of the Treasurer, I will continue to make appointments on merit.
“But I refuse to accept that a so-called merit-based selection will continue to throw up exclusively male appointments.”
He added that changes should be made to the superannuation system to make it easier for women to top up their retirement savings.
“We should remove any red tape which goes with obliging employees and simply make the process easier,” he said, saying that men are the primary beneficiaries of the current system.
Bowen added senior figures in the Labor party were on board with his comments, saying the entire shadow cabinet understands the importance of putting the issues he was discussing on the agenda.
When asked by Tim Eliott’s 3AW about the speech yesterday, Bowen said, “All the right things are being said but progress is very slow.”
Asked if companies that didn’t have around 30% women on boards within five years should be subject to a quota, Bowen said it would still be better if the private sector could deal with the issue itself.
But if it doesn’t, “Then these sort of matters will need to be considered just as they are being considered in other countries.”