· Web viewWOMEN ON BOARDS STRATEGY 2015-2020 HIGHlights report - september 2016 To view the Summary Progress Report and the BAGS Report: visit or email [email protected]

WOMEN ON BOARDS STRATEGY 2015-2020HIGHLIGHTS REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2016

IntroductionResearch and current data continue to show that women are under-represented in positions of leadership and decision-making across government, community and business. The Women on Boards Strategy 2015-2020 was released in July 2015 and committed the Tasmanian Government to a target of 50 per cent representation of women across Tasmanian Government boards and committees by July 2020.At the time of the Strategy’s release, 33.8 per cent of all board positons were held by women. As at August 2016, this had increased to 39.4 per cent. When looking only at the number of women board members in Tasmania, this is an increase of 17 per cent.The percentage of director positions of Government Business Enterprises and State Owned Companies has risen over the past 12 months. There have also been noticeable increases in the percentage of board and committee positions held by women across most government agencies.As part of the Strategy’s implementation, the Government committed $150 000 over three years to support the Tasmanian Government Board Diversity Governance Scholarship Program through the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).Nineteen women have received governance training through the Tasmanian Government Board Diversity Governance Scholarship Program. The Strategy is one of a number of initiatives that the Tasmanian Government is undertaking to increase the number of women in positions of leadership and decision-making, and to highlight the role and value of women in society.

Establishing arrangements for boards and committeesThe Government Boards Database holds information for 130 boards and committees. Of this number, 118 are statutory boards because they are established under legislation.

Communities, Sport and RecreationDepartment of Premier and Cabinet

WOMEN ON BOARDS STRATEGY 2015-2020HIGHLIGHTS REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2016Regardless of how the board or committee is established, the governing arrangements for each board and committee must be followed when board members are appointed. It is also current convention that most appointments to Tasmanian Government boards and committees are ratified by Cabinet. Under the current Cabinet Gender Equity Guidelines, agencies are required to contact the Tasmanian Women’s Register to seek suitable nominations for appointment to board vacancies.

Board membership across government agenciesTable 1.0 provides a breakdown of the percentage of board positions held by women across State Government agencies and a comparison between 2015 and 2016. It shows an overall increase in the percentage of women holding positions.Table 1.0 Comparison of percentage of board positions held by women across Tasmanian Government agencies between 2015 and 2016

Department/Agency No. of boards

Percentage positions held

by women April 2015


by women August 2016

Percentage

increase or

decreaseEducation 6 55.6 58.7 +3.1Premier and Cabinet 8 56.7 55.4 -1.3Justice 32 40.6 41.7 +1.1Health and Human Services 12 38.5 43.3 +4.8Treasury and Finance ^ 7 32.4 33.3 +1State Growth ^ 25 28.3 39.2 +10.9Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment ^

31 21.2 23.3 +2.1

Police, Fire and Emergency Management *

4 19.1 17.6 -1.5

TAFE Tasmania 1 33.3 44.4 +11.1


WOMEN ON BOARDS STRATEGY 2015-2020HIGHLIGHTS REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2016Department/Agency No. of

boardsPercentage

positions held by women April 2015


by women August 2016

Percentage

increase or

decreaseMacquarie Point Development Co.

1 50.0 33.4 -16.6

Tourism Tasmania 1 42.8 57.1 +14.3Tasmanian Audit Office 1 Not included 33.4Tasmanian Health Service 1 Not included 60.0Office of the Ombudsman 1 Not included 33.4^ Includes membership of Government Business Enterprises and State Owned Companies* Tasmania Fire Service joined the Department of Police and Emergency Management in 2015

to form the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management. The inclusion of the Tasmanian Fire Commission, which has six male members and one female member at August 2016, has affected the overall percentage of women board members for that agency.

Government Business EnterprisesBoard membership of Government Business Enterprises (GBEs) is provided under Part 3 of the Government Business Enterprises Act 1995 (GBE Act). Under the GBE Act, a GBE board must have no less than three and no more than eight Directors. Directors are appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Treasurer and the relevant portfolio Minister. At August 2016, the number of female Directors of GBE boards had increased by one over the previous year and the number of male Directors had decreased by two. Women currently represent 50 per cent of directors across all GBEs. Every GBE board has at least two female members.Table 2.0 shows a comparison of the gender composition of GBE boards between April 2015 and August 2016.Table 2.0 Directors of Government Business Enterprises – gender breakdown.



No. female directors Aug

2015

No. male directors Aug

2015


2016


2016Forestry Tas 2 4 3 3Hydro 2 3 2 4MAIB 2 3 2 3Port Arthur 4 3 4 3Public Trustee 3 2 3 1Tas Corp 2 3 2 2

Total 15 18 16 16

State Owned CompaniesBoard membership of State Owned Companies (SOCs) is provided under legislation specific to each SOC. Each piece of legislation has specific provisions for the establishment of the relevant company and the appointment of Directors. SOCs are subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001.

At August 2016, the number of women on SOC boards had increased by one over the previous year, and the number of men had decreased by one. The percentage of women Directors of SOCs has increased to 33 per cent.Table 3.0 shows a comparison of the gender composition of SOC boards between April 2015 and August 2016.Table 3.0 Directors of State owned Companies – gender breakdown.


2015


2015


2016


2016Aurora 3 1 3 1




2015


2015


2016


2016Tas Ports 1 4 3 2Tas Networks 2 4 2 4TT-Line 2 5 2 5Metro Tas 1 4 0 4Tas Rail 2 3 2 3Tas Racing 1 4 1 5Tas Irrigation 1 4 1 4

Total 13 29 14 28

Board membership across jurisdictionsEach government jurisdiction, including the Australian Government, reports performance in relation to the percentage of government board positions held by women. The timing of measurements is not consistent across the jurisdictions. The data in Table 4, which is the most recent data provided by each jurisdiction, shows that Tasmania has improved its ranking in comparison with other states and territories and the Australian Government since April 2015. The increase of 5.6 per cent since April 2015 is the largest increase of all the jurisdictions.

Table 4.0 Comparison of percentage of board positions held by women across Australian government jurisdictions between 2015 and 2016

Jurisdiction Percentage of board positions held by womenApril 2015

Percentage of board positions held by women August 2016

ACT 47 48



Jurisdiction Percentage of board positions held by womenApril 2015

Percentage of board positions held by women August 2016

South Australia 47 47Western Australia 42 43New South Wales 39 41Tasmania 34 39Queensland 37 39Australian Government

40 39

Victoria 39 34Northern Territory 34 34

The Tasmanian Women’s RegisterThe Tasmanian Women’s Register is maintained by the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC) and holds 540 profiles of women who have registered their interest in being considered for appointment to Tasmanian Government boards and committees.Board vacancies are promoted to the Register. Specific searches are also undertaken for vacancies where specific skills and experience are required to be appointed and the profiles of women who meet the criteria are submitted to the relevant agency for consideration.Since the Women on Boards Strategy was released in July 2015, 68 new profiles have been accepted on the Register and 40 profiles have been updated.



Tasmanian Government Board Diversity Governance Scholarship ProgramAs part of the Strategy’s implementation, the Government committed $150 000 over three years to support the Tasmanian Government Board Diversity Governance Scholarship Program through the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).Applications were received from 140 women for the 2016 round of scholarships. Three scholarships were offered for the Company Directors Course and 16 were offered for the Foundations of Directorship course.Applications for the 2017 scholarships closed on 16 September 2016. The successful applicants will be announced at a ceremony later in 2016. It is anticipated that a similar number of courses will be offered for the 2017 year.

ConclusionSince the release of the Women on Boards Strategy 2015-2020, progress has been made in several areas. This includes an increase in the representation of women on Tasmanian Government boards, a greater number of women actively using the Women’s Register and an uptake of AICD scholarships to increase women’s access to professional networks and training opportunities.To reach the target of 50 per cent representation of women across Tasmanian Government boards and committees by July 2020, work remains to be done in several key areas. Through being able to track progress, areas of improvement can be identified and celebrated and additional support can be targeted at agencies, GBEs and SOCs that are experiencing slower rates of change. It is expected that significant progress will be made in the next reporting period with the implementation of additional activities and initiatives.

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Documents

· Web viewWOMEN ON BOARDS STRATEGY 2015-2020 HIGHlights report - september 2016 To view the Summary Progress Report and the BAGS Report: visit or email [email protected]