WOMEN ON BOARDS AND COMMITTEES

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (16:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about training for women on boards.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It is widely known that this government is very keen to further increase the number of women on boards and committees. It has set itself publicly accountable targets to that end. Does the government provide or facilitate training for women who may be appointed to boards, and will the minister advise the council of any recent training programs?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (16:23): South Australia's Strategic Plan recognises that the diverse knowledge and expertise of women can only enhance the success of government boards and committees. Indeed, having women on private and public boards can improve the performance of an organisation and contribute to the effectiveness of decisions and policies. I believe that diversity in board members' backgrounds, skills and experience enhances board effectiveness. That is why South Australia has aspired to achieving gender balance on its government boards and committees.

As a part of its wide-ranging strategies to improve gender diversity on boards, the Office for Women has partnered with the Australian Institute of Company Directors to provide targeted financial programs for women board members. I understand that the Australian Institute of Company Directors (more commonly referred to as AICD) is recognised as one of the leading providers of board training in Australia and is also undertaking a suite of measures to address the issues of board diversity.

Combining AICD's two essential financial courses—Introduction to Financial Information for Directors and Assessing Financial Performance for Directors—the financial programs for women were provided to enhance women's knowledge and competence about corporate finances. Topics covered in these courses included interpreting a variety of financial statements using case studies, assessing performance using ratios, and indicators and analysis in evaluating an organisation for insolvency. Completion of the course also enables participants to receive status towards the AICD diploma.

Each one of these courses is normally $445, but I am pleased to say that, through the partnership of the AICD and the Office for Women, the two courses were provided to attendees for less than $280. Women from the Premier's Women's Directory (South Australia's database of women ready to serve on boards and committees) and community sector boards were invited to enhance their directorship skills at this highly subsidised rate. Eighteen women completed the program over two evenings in October 2009, and 11 women completed the intensive program in May 2010.

The Office for Women has also partnered with other training providers to provide accessible, reasonably priced board training for women. Representatives from the Office for Women recent recently spoke to the YWCA of Adelaide's Sassy and Savvy board training introduction which is free for women under 30 years old and subsidised for women over 30.

The Sydney-based organisation Women on Boards will again be holding workshops at the Office for Women on 11 May 2010. Having women on boards enables them to bring their diverse skills, expertise and perspectives to the boardroom. The Office for Women is partnering with high-quality training programs such as these to provide women with the skills and confidence to take on leadership positions at the board level.