Women in Australia
2004

CONTENTS	1. Population Characteristics	4. Working Life	7. Management and Decision Making
	2. Family and Living Arrangements	5. Economic Resources	8. Crime and Safety
GLOSSARY	3. Health	6. Education and Training	9. Selected Population Groups

Chapter 7. Management and Decision Making

Women are considerably under-represented in roles that involve management and decision making.

The Australian Census of Women in Leadership

The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), as part of its role to administer the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 and to educate and assist organisations to achieve equal opportunity for women, first commissioned a 'census' in 2002 to measure the proportion of women in executive roles in business. This census is conducted yearly and collects information from the nation's top 200 companies, which encompass 90 per cent of Australia's market capital.¹

The Census of 2003 found the following:

The percentage of board seats held by women [had] increased by only 0.2 of a percentage point, from 8.2% in 2002 to 8.4% in 2003 (compared with 12.5% in 2001 in the US and 9.8% reported in the Canadian 2001 Census).

The [proportion] of companies with at least one woman board director [was] down by 0.6 of a percentage point, from 53.3% of companies in 2002 to 52.7% of companies in 2003 (the main feeder group for CEO and Board positions).

... just five of Australia's top 200 companies [had] a woman as CEO as at the Census cut off date of 31 March, 2003".

...Alarmingly, the 2003 Census also found that 49.1% of Australian companies have no women executive managers.²

According to EOWA, the Census found significant differences in the performance of particular industries with:

The best performing sector for women executive managers [being] software & IT services, telecommunications, retailing and health care equipment and services.

The worst performing sectors for women executive managers were consumer durables and apparel, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, hotels, restaurants and the leisure industry and real estate.³

Women as Managers

In May 2003, four per cent of employed women were managers and administrators compared to nine per cent of men; and women comprised only one quarter of managers and administrators at 25 per cent - up from 23 per cent in 1999. Women were most highly represented among Miscellaneous Specialist Managers at 43 per cent.

Women Managers and Equity of Earnings

In 2002, female managers averaged 80 per cent of male management earnings (average weekly total earnings) across all industries.

In three industries, Electricity, Gas and Water Supply, Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants and Cultural and Recreational Services female managers actually averaged higher total weekly earnings than their male counterparts.

In general though, female managers earned proportionately less than male managers. The ratio of female management earnings to male management earnings in the Health and Community Services industry, a large general employer of women, was only 60 cents in the male dollar.⁴

Graph 7.1 Female Average Weekly Total Earnings (Managerial Adults) as a Proportion of Male Managerial Adult Earnings⁶

Senior Executive Management and the Australian Public Service

An example where occupational segregation by sex (despite strong equal opportunity employment legislation) is still prominent is the Australian Public Service (APS). In 2003 while women made up 53 per cent of permanent employees, they occupied only 30 per cent of senior executive positions.

However, the Australian Public Service Commission's State of the Service Report notes that:

The proportion of women in the SES [Senior Executive Service] has increased steadily over the last decade from 17.1% in June 1994 to 30.4% at June 2003.⁶

At the time of the June 2002-2003 Report, larger numbers of women were clustered at the more junior classifications such as APS2 (Australian Public Service Level 2) and APS3 (Australian Public Service Level 3). The largest proportion of females (30 per cent) were at the APS4 level (Australian Public Service Level 4), while for men, the largest proportion ((24 per cent) were at the APS6 level (Australian Public Service Level 6).⁷

Due to amendments to the Public Service Act, wages and conditions are no longer uniform across all departments of the public sector, however the following figures will give some idea of current pay ranges across the junior and senior bands in the public service.

Approximate* Pay Ranges for Selected Levels of Australian Public Service (APS) Staff

Graph 7.2 The Public Service: Permanent Staff by Sex and Classification, March 2004

Women in Government

Women are increasingly being elected to all levels of government. Nevertheless, their representation is still minor and not reflective of the composition of the population.

In 2001 (year of latest available data) women were 27 per cent of elected Local Government members, while 18 per cent of Local Councils had a female mayor.⁸

In April 2003, women comprised 29 per cent of the Australian Parliament.⁹

Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Councils however, women comprised 42 per cent of membership in March 2003.¹⁰

Graph 7.3 Women's Share of Seats in National Parliament*, March 2004

Women and Australian Honours

Australian Honours are awarded to those who are considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the community.

Awards within the Order of Australia (for Australian citizens) can be nominated by anyone in the community.

The process is as follows:

• Nomination of an Australian citizen who has made an outstanding contribution to the nation
• Research by the Honours Secretariat
• Consideration by the Order of Australia Council
• Recommendation to the Governor General for approval.

Since the introduction of Australian Honours in 1975, more than 14,000 Australians have received an Order of Australia.¹¹

In 2004, 36 per cent of the Australia Day award recipients were women, while in 1993, 34 per cent of Australia Day award recipients and 37 per cent of the Queen's Birthday award recipients were women.¹²

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Footnotes

1 Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, Lack of Profit Centre Experience Thwarts Women's Careers: 2003 Census, media release, EOWA, 1 October 2003.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Employee Earnings and Hours 2002, (Cat. No. 6306.0), Canberra.
5 Ibid.
6 Australian Public Service Commission 2003, State of the Service Report 2002-2003, http://www.apsc.gov.au/stateoftheservice/0203/index.html#, viewed 18 March 2004.
7 Australian Public Service Commission 2003, http://www.apsc.gov.au/stateoftheservice/0203/statistics/index.html#, viewed 18 March 2004.
8 above n 6.
9 Department of the Parliamentary Library, 2003, Statistics group, unpublished data.
10 Australian Electoral Commission, 2003, unpublished data.
11 It's an Honour 2003, About Honours: How to Nominate, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, viewed at 17 March 2004. http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/about/how_to_nominate.html
12 Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 2001, Honours Secretariat, unpublished data.

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Table 7.1 Managers and Administrators,^(a)(b) May 2003

Table 7.2 Local Government Councillors 2001