Premier's Council for Women

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:07): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about increasing the number of women in senior positions in businesses.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.T. NGO: According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), of all businesses, only 17.3 percent of CEOs or heads of business are women. The WGEA also identifies that, at May 2015, there was a 24.9 per cent gender pay gap between men and women who work full time, and a 10.9 per cent gender pay gap in South Australia. My question is: can the minister tell the chamber about the Premier's Council for Women's recent 50-50 event?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:08): I thank the member for his important question. Indeed, it was an absolutely wonderful event. The government obviously has made no secret that it is passionate about ensuring equal representation of women on government boards and committees—I spoke at length about that commitment yesterday in question time—and particularly in senior positions—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: What about this Legislative Council? We've only got one.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Well, it's more than Family First have. I would be careful, Brokey. Be very careful, Brokey; you are 100 per cent blokes. Sorry for responding to that interjection, which I know is out of order.

We have implemented a wide variety of policies to achieve this, and whilst there is still some way to go—not quite as far as Family First—we have made some remarkable gains. As at 1 September 2015, women held more than 47 per cent of government board positions and 37 per cent of chair positions. However, the private sector has a much bigger job ahead. At 31 July 2015, according to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the percentage of women on ASX 200 boards was only 20 per cent—a fifth. A total of 31 board in the ASX 200 did not have any women at all.

Recently, the Premier's Council for Women held their inaugural 50/50 event. The council's current work plan includes a priority to promote and support women in leadership in South Australia. The 50/50 event is one of their strategies towards achieving that priority, and it is intended that this event be the first of a series introducing the businesswomen and businessmen of South Australia to each other, so that it brings them all into one room, to promote female senior executives to business in South Australia for contacts, employment and board members. It is using networking arrangements to increase the level of awareness of senior executive talent here in South Australia.

The council identified that one of the reasons that men may not place women into leadership or board positions is not so much that they do not want to, but because they do not know anyone who is suitable and who is available. By placing 50 leading businessmen and senior businesswomen into one room to undertake networking, it is hoped that in future, when businesses are looking to fill a vacancy, they will think, 'Aha! Yes, I know the ideal woman for that position', and they will consider or even recommend to others that might be looking to fill a position.

Supporting women as leaders in South Australia makes sense, not only to redress gender inequity, but for securing economic independence for women and their families and also to improve national productivity and increase South Australia's overall economic performance. A key priority of the South Australian government is that we will be a world-class business destination and South Australia will be the best place to do business. Part of this is ensuring women are given the opportunity to participate as leaders in every way, be it in business, on a board, in parliament or in the local community.

The South Australian government is committed to achieving women's equal participation in all areas of our community. On 30 July 2015, the South Australian government launched a government-wide women's policy, Achieving Women's Equality, to acknowledge the importance of the participation of women. One of the central pillars of this is to increase women's leadership. This pillar includes a commitment to improve the profile of women leaders across government, business and the community, and another is to encourage all South Australians workplaces to improve gender diversity in their workforce. As I said, I was delighted to attend the 50/50 event and look forward to future events.