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Your guide to the structures, organisations and key people in the Australian Government

Gender balance reports

The gender balance on Australian Government boards report is prepared annually by the Australian Government Office for Women. It reports on the Government’s commitment to achieving and maintaining gender balance through targets set on Australian Government boards. The targets and most recent results are published by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and can be found at Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards.

Why is gender balance important?

In Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality (Working for Women), the Government outlines where it will focus efforts over the next decade to achieve its vision – an Australia where people are safe, treated with respect, have choices and have access to resources and equal outcomes no matter their gender. This includes commitments to drive progress on women’s leadership, representation and decision-making across all areas and levels.

Gender balance is about enabling all Australians – of all genders – to reach their full potential to contribute to and benefit from economic, social, cultural and political participation. Women's equal participation in high level decision-making roles is an important and visible form of participation and is one of the most important investments in our country’s future. Evidence from the private sector indicates that gender balance at the board level increases performance through improved governance, decision-making and financial returns.

Through setting gender balance targets and encouraging ministers and their portfolios to meet these targets, the Government is not only improving the performance of its boards, but also providing leadership to both the public and private sectors on how we view women and their contributions to the nation's top leadership roles.

The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 also requires Commonwealth public sector employers that employ 100 or more people to submit a report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) annually to meet legislative obligations. This submission includes data on the gender composition of governing bodies of relevant employers (Gender Equality Indicator 2). Further information on WGEA’s Commonwealth Public Sector Reporting can be found at Commonwealth Public Sector Reporting.

Guidelines for gender balance reporting of Australian Government boards

The below information is intended as high-level summary only. For comprehensive guidance on reporting requirements please refer to the guidelines for gender balance on Australian Government boards and bodies distributed by the Office for Women.

Boards that are within the scope of gender balance reporting are:

  • bodies covered by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act),
  • ministerial advisory committees,
  • review committees, and
  • Commonwealth Statutory Authorities.

See the list of Commonwealth entities and companies subject to the PGPA Act.

These boards must also have at least one total position filled at the time of the reporting cut-off date (30 June) and at least one of its positions appointed or approved by a particular representative of the Government, limited to:

  • the Prime Minister,
  • one or more Commonwealth Minister/s,
  • the Governor-General in Council, or
  • the Cabinet.

If a board meets this criteria, all positions on that board are to be captured in reporting. This includes ex-officio board members (board positions held by virtue of their role, not by appointment) and externally appointed board members (not appointed by a particular representatives of Government listed above).

Not all Government boards are reportable. Gender balance reporting excludes the following types of bodies:

  • Non-corporate Commonwealth entities that are not listed entities under the PGPA Act,
  • Commonwealth courts or tribunals,
  • National Law bodies, defined by the Commonwealth Governance Structures Policy,
  • Non-statutory functions of Commonwealth entities with separate branding,
  • Parliamentary Committees,
  • Ministerial Councils and related bodies, sub-bodies and working groups of these bodies.

If you have any further questions on gender balance reporting or require access to the most recent guidelines, please contact the OFWLeadership@pmc.gov.au mailbox.