• 15 Sep 2023 11:40 AM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Plan International Australia has released their ‘Gender Compass’  – a study revealing what ordinary Australians really think about gender equality conducted in mid-2023. Gender Compass segments the Australian public into 6 groups according to their beliefs, policy preferences and behaviours in relation to gender equality.

    The findings reveal that 77% of us agree that we benefit from an equal and fair society, but the community isn’t unified on the magnitude of change required to get there. In fact, 59% of people believe that we have already achieved – or are close to achieving – gender equality.

    Plan International Australia CEO, Susanne Legena, said the study was “a pulse-check” and also a “wake-up call”. Plan believes is critical to shift social norms to build a more gender-equal society. Gender Compass is a tool through which targeted communications can be designed to effectively shift the dial.

    Download the full report , a summary of the six segments or a 1 page report summary

  • 08 Sep 2023 5:45 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Women on Boards provides advice to women seeking Board roles: preparation is key.

    • 1.    Check the ad and the key skills being sought.
    • 2.       Practice your pitch - being able to confidently pitch your experience and what you bring to the board is crucial.
    • 3.    When talking about your experience, make sure you can provide relevant examples.
    • 4.    Remember you are being interviewed for a board position, not a job, so don’t get operational.
    • 5.    Do your research about the organisation before the interview.
    • 6.    When asked a question, relate answers to the organisation, not yourself, and showcase how you can add value.
    • 7.    Sending a follow up thank you to the panel can leave a lasting impression and make you stand out. 

    So remember it’s a board interview, not a job interview, and that you need to do your homework and be prepared.

  • 31 Aug 2023 1:36 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Women are not closing the super gap with men, despite rises in the superannuation guarantee and some private employers increasing paid parental leave.  While there has been some improvement in the super gender gap in recent years, women still retire with about 23% less than men.

    There are a number of factors driving the change, according to Women in Super CEO Jo Kowalczyk. One important factor is that men continue to dominate high-income jobs, the ones that allow enough free cash to make significant voluntary super contributions along with higher super guarantee payments.

    KPMG, in their Towards Gender Equity in Retirement Report, claims people who leave the workforce to look after aged, infirm or ill dependents – predominantly women – could have their superannuation balances boosted by over $120,000. And that it could be done at a neutral cost to the budget by including superannuation guarantee contributions in paid parental leave and the carer payment.

  • 21 Aug 2023 12:05 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Equal Pay Day is 25 August, marking the 8 weeks it has taken the average woman to earn as much as the average man in 2022/23.  We don’t celebrate Equal Pay Day, we mark it.  We’ll celebrate when Equal Pay Day is 30 June!

    The ABS has released the latest data on average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults.  The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has interpreted this data and explained how the gender pay gap is calculated.  The national gender pay gap is 13%, the lowest ever pay gap.

    WGEA has provided pay gap data by state and territory which clubs can use for your EPD events.  The gender pay gap went up in NSW and NT and down in the other jurisdictions. They also report the pay gap by industry, with highest gap in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and the lowest in Public Administration and Safety. 

    The Workplace Gender Equality Agency notes that the private sector has a significantly higher gender pay gap than the public sector. As of November 2022:  the private sector gender pay gap is 15.7% while the public sector gender pay gap is 10.6%.

  • 12 Aug 2023 12:27 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Australia’s new international development policy – the first in almost a decade – will drive the Government's aid investments in tackling regional challenges like gender equality, poverty, economic growth, healthcare, infrastructure investment, and climate change. The Government's commitment to gender equality and climate action will be at the heart of the development program. New targets will ensure Australian development assistance tackles climate impacts and improves the lives of women and girls. Under the new rules, all new international development projects worth more than $3 million will have to include a gender equality objective.

    “Placing gender equality at the centre of development creates opportunities for people to thrive, making our countries stronger, more secure and more inclusive,” the statement on the policy changes noted.


  • 03 Aug 2023 6:17 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Chief Executive Women has released a report demonstrating that diverse leadership is good for business.

    Dr Marlene Kanga AO, a Project Steering Committee Member, believes culturally diverse women leaders are a force to be reckoned with. “With Australia facing a challenging economic climate and critical workforce shortages, businesses need to tap into a full talent pool and culturally diverse women are one of the greatest untapped resources in Australian business.”

    Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, President of CEW, opines racially diverse women leaders face a double-glazed ceiling, experiencing barriers because of their gender AND race. “It’s time for leaders to talk about race in Australian workplaces and take action.” CEW calls for leaders across big business to take action to support culturally diverse women in the workforce, highlighting the need to address gender and race to support more women in leadership. CEW is committed to gathering data across its membership and setting meaningful targets to drive greater diversity within the organisations.

    With almost half of Australians now having a parent born overseas and 5.5 million Australians speaking a language other than English, according to the 2021 Census, there’s a large pool of untapped leadership talent in culturally and racially diverse women.

  • 27 Jul 2023 4:09 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    In celebration of NAIDOC Week 2023, Women's Agenda released a publication that shines a light on the extraordinary achievements of First Nations women in Australia. This collection of stories celebrates the resilience, courage, and unwavering spirit of Indigenous women who have shaped our nation's history and continue to shape its future.

  • 16 Jul 2023 10:34 AM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    According to the Unicef report, Where do rich countries stand on child care?, only Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Norway and Slovenia provide free access for children under three.

    When considering multiple factors, such as the quality, affordability and accessibility of early childhood education and care, it ranks Luxembourg, Iceland and Sweden as having the best childcare policies. Australia is ranked 37th of the 41 countries surveyed.

    The federal government has directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to hold an inquiry into ECEC prices. An Australian Productivity Commission inquiry into the early childhood education and care sector began in March and is due to present a draft report to the government in November and a final report by 30 June 2024.

  • 09 Jul 2023 10:44 AM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    How often do BPW members find they have to explain the gender pay gap?  Surely, we’ve had equal pay since the Sex Discrimination Act was passed in 1984? 

    Yes – we have equal pay for equal work; you can’t pay different rates for men and women doing the same job.  But this has not delivered pay equity.  The jobs that women do are simply not valued the same as work that men do, and women tend to be relegated to lower pay roles than men in workplaces. We don’t have pay equity – there is a significant gender pay gap across and within Australia’s workplaces.

    Ruby Leahy Gatfield, Head of Research and Insights at Future Women, has written a helpful explanation that will be useful to clubs planning their Equal Pay Day events this year.

  • 02 Jul 2023 3:31 PM | Angela Tomazos (Administrator)

    Closing the Gender Pay Gap – why it matters

    BPW Australia (the Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women), founder of Equal Pay Day Alliance, has advocated for action on gender pay inequity for over 70 years.

    In 2023, BPW Australia is again joining the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) call to take action to close the gender pay gap.

    WGEA is an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The Agency is charged with promoting and improving gender equality in the Australian Workplaces. On 30 March 2023, Parliament passed the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023. The reforms aim to accelerate workplace gender equality in Australia.

    In 2023, equal pay day is 25th August, marking 56 days additional days from the end of the previous financial year that women must work, on average, to earn the same amount as men earnt that year. Progress in the past four years has been slow, with only a change from 59 days in 2019 to 56 days now.

    “The Workplace Gender Equality Agency reporting provides overwhelming evidence that when employers analyse their data for pay gaps and take clear actions, their pay gap reduces,” Jacqueline Graham, President BPW Australia said.

    International experience has also shown that publishing employer gender pay gaps can lead companies to prioritise gender equality and to a lowering of employer gender pay gaps. In the UK, research indicates it motivated some employers to narrow the wage gap between men and women. These reforms will encourage employers to deploy and drive workplace policies, practices and environments that support gender equality, creating meaningful shifts in Australian working life.

    BPW Australia will be joining WGEA in the 56-day countdown to help continue and increase the momentum of change.

    “Gender equality and gender diversity at work is not just nice to have. Gender equity is a basic human right, but its achievement also brings socio-economic benefits to everyone. By empowering women, the broader community thrives, increasing productivity and growth,” Jacqueline said.

    “Australia’s Gender Pay Gap reflects gender gaps across our society. Equal Pay Day is a marker pointing to where we need to improve, to fully harness the talent of every Australian. It is not simple to do – there is no one answer - but we can make change, if we act.” Jacqueline said.

BPW Australia Newsletter Archive

Past editions of BPW Australia's electronic newsletters can be viewed as a PDF - see below.

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