Cultural change and industry-tailored measures are needed so that more women can rise to leadership roles in private and public-sector organisations, ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel told an audience in Melbourne today.
In a speech to the fifth annual Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium, Mr Samuel said the ACCC had implemented initiatives to support women’s advancement that included a women’s mentoring program to help with career planning, networking and developing the skills of mentor and mentee alike.
Mr Samuel noted that 71 per cent of the ACCC’s graduate intake were women but they often faced particular challenges mid-career when faced with the choice to have children.
He said he applauded developments in job-sharing, part-time and work-from-home options for men and women, to help keep talented women in the workforce and in contention for senior roles.
The ACCC had also harnessed technology such as video-conferencing and sophisticated remote IT access options to help staff balance work and family demands.
Mr Samuel said organisations needed to emphasise female role models, while male ‘champions’ at board level in particular could dislodge ‘male-club’ thinking, breaking patterns that disadvantaged women from the inside of institutions.
The speech will be available on the ACCC website www.accc.gov.au via the media centre.