Local Women Leading the Way - The Clare Burton Lecture 2010 and the 40under40 Awards

The 2010 Clare Burton Lecture

The Bickley Blog is delighted to announce that the 2010 Clare Burton Memorial Lecture is being delivered by Dr Linley Lord, Senior Lecturer at the CGSB, Director of the Maureen Bickley Centre for Women in Leadership and Bickley Blogger. Linley, who will be delivering the address, Moving beyond token women: The need for radical reform in corporate Australia, joins the ranks of Australia's most prominent women chosen to be part of this prestigious lecture series. Congratulations Linley!

Moving beyond token women: The need for radical reform in corporate Australia
Over past decades much has been said about the lack of women in senior decision making roles, without any notable change. Is structural reform now required to bring about real change in the composition of Australia’s executive ranks? The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) recently reported that the number of women directors of Australia’s top listed companies has now reached 10%. While this statistic indicates an upward trend, does it really mark significant improvement in women’s representation in senior decision making roles in Australian organisations? Much of the local focus to date has been on ‘fixing’ women so that they can fit into existing structures. Will the initiatives addressing the lack of women on company boards recently launched by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the Business Council of Australia address some of the systemic problems leading to women’s underrepresentation?

The 2010 Clare Burton Memorial Lecture tackles these questions by examining overseas experience and the seemingly glacial rate of change in Australia. The lecture will explore ways that Australia could move beyond tokenism and towards achieving the diversity of thinking, experience and expertise needed in Australia’s organisations.

The lecture will be presented around Australia during October and November. For details of dates and venues, and to register please follow the link.


40 Under 40 Awards



Nominations for the 2011 40 under 40 awards are now open. The annual awards, run by WA Business News, aim to showcase the outstanding talent within WA.

Last year’s awards saw a number of talented WA women from a range of industries recognised including the overall winner “First Amoung Equals” awards – Suzanne Daubney, Managing Director, Banister Downs Dairy Company.

Women amoungst the 2010 award winners included:
Ceyda Genc, Managing Director, Turkish Bakeries
Diana Rigg, Director, PLD Organisation
Emma Williamson, Director, CODA
Fiona Crowe, Head of College, St Catherines College, University of Western Australia
Kellie Hill, Managing Director, KHC
Lisa Clarke, Manager, Mclaren Hire Vehicle Rentals
Melanie Cave, Partner, Freehills
Narelle Keogh, Owner, Katandra Furniture & Design
Paige McNeil, Company Secretary & Administation, Frontier Resources
Rebecca Thompson, Principal Occupational Therapist, Maximum Independence Occupational Therapy
Sarah Kinsey, Director/Owner, Ray White Uxcel
Tracey Westerman, Managing Director, Indigenous Psychological Services
Yvette Manalos, Senior Production Technologist, Woodside Energy Ltd

Follow the link and nominate a tall poppy for a 2011 award now!

At a Stand Still - 2010 EOWA Australian Census of Women in Leadership

The 2010 Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) Australian Census of Women in Leadership was released yesterday. The census measures the number of women holding Board Directorships and occupying CEO and Executive Management roles in the top 200 ASX listed companies. First conducted in 2002, the census is repeated every two years.

The fifth iteration of the census showed minimal change in measures since the previous release in 2008, and since its inception in 2002. Australian businesses have failed to increase the representation of women in corporate positions of authority and influence during the past decade.

Highlight findings of this census include:

Board Directors

• Women chair five ASX 200 boards and hold 8.4% of ASX 200 board directorships in 2010, compared with 8.3% in 2008.
• There are four additional women holding board seats in 2010 (93 individual women, up from 89 in 2008).
• 54% of ASX 200 companies do not have a single woman on their board. This has increased from 51% in 2008.
• The industry groups with the highest percentage of women Board Directors are:
  o Insurance
  o Consumer Services
  o Banks
  o Software & Services

Executive Management

• Women hold six CEO positions in 2010, compared with four positions in 2008. That’s 194 men in CEO positions.
• Women hold 8% of key Executive Management Personnel positions in 2010, compared to 7% in 2008.
• 61.9% of ASX200 companies do not have a single woman in a key Executive Management Personnel position. This has improved from 65.1% in 2008.
• Women’s representation in line positions is 4.1%, with no change since 2008. Line experience is widely considered to be essential for rising to the top corporate positions.

Australia trails the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa in these measures.

In the introduction to the report, Acting Director of EOWA Mairi Steele comments that “the census clearly shows that nothing significant has occurred in Australian business culture in the past eight years to address the systemic inequality” that exists within corporate Australia.

And nor is it likely until more ‘persuasive’ measures are implemented and enforced.

As previously highlighted on the Bickley Blog, the ASX have made some welcome changes to their corporate governance principles that will require companies to report the number of women in these senior roles, to set targets and report on annual progress. In a media release, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick indicated that that she was hopeful that such initiatives would deliver an improved outcome for women by the time of the next census in 2012. The Commissioner went on to state that “if the 2012 Census does not reveal a dramatic increase in the number of women in Board Director and Chair positions and in executive management positions, I would suggest we need to consider putting stronger initiatives in place.”

The Bickley Bloggers look forward to a positive impact of the ASX guidelines and to the taking of action should they not deliver the desired outcomes!