Global pushback on DEI policies compels stronger stand from CEOs

Donald Trump’s attacks on DEI policies in the US are not finding much traction here. ‘So let’s start talking to those groups that haven’t been convinced by the messaging in the past,’ Liz Broderick says.

Elizabeth Broderick. Picture: Nick Cubbin

Donald Trump’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion has had the reverse impact on Australia’s companies, according to one of the nation’s leading advocates of gender equity, Elizabeth Broderick.

The founder of the influential Champions of Change Coalition says the group of 250 CEO and board-level leaders has been “galvanised” by global attempts to push back on inclusive workplace policies.

“One of the reasons we are coming out strongly now with a recommitment is that we are making really clear that we’re not going to pull back,” she said. “If anything, we’re going to continue to accelerate.”

The coalition is celebrating its 15th anniversary with the release on Friday of a progress report and a blueprint for action in its bid to achieve “inclusive gender equality” by 2030.

Ms Broderick, who is a former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, said: “We have had a lot of conversations about (the pushback), and we’ve said, ‘Well, where do we stand?’”

Most significantly, no organisation had withdrawn from the coalition in the wake of the debate and new members joined the group.

“No one said, ‘Oh, well, we don’t care about gender equality anymore’, which is what I was kind of worried about,” Ms Broderick said. “But we haven’t seen that at all.”

She said corporates had not “gone quiet” on the issue but had changed the way they described DEI.

“We’ve realised that actually we need to bring everyone along,” she said. “Gender equality benefits everyone. So let’s start talking to those groups that haven’t been convinced by the messaging in the past. We’ve shifted our messaging, but we absolutely have not changed anything in our commitment to inclusive gender equality or the action we’re taking. If anything, that’s ramping up. Gender equality lifts not just women, it lifts communities, families, our economy and our nation. And we have to get much clearer about that. I think we’ve recognised we haven’t been very good at that in the past.”

She said the debate on working from home was central to efforts on gender equality but “we’ve definitely gone from believing that total remote work is the answer” to “some midway point” of mandated days in the office.

Annika Freyer

Annika Freyer, the CEO of the coalition, said there was a trend to more inclusive workforces in Australia at a time of great social, technological and environmental disruption.

There had been great progress since the coalition launched in 2010 with eight male CEOs but there was still a long way to go: “We have gender segregated workforces. We’re far from gender balance at the top. So the work continues.”

The coalition was launched with the specific purpose of co-opting powerful male leaders to work on getting more women into top jobs. Known originally as Male Champions of Change, it dropped “male” from its title a few years back as gender equity became more broadly accepted. Some 27 per cent of the 250 members are women.

“(In 2010) the idea of ‘male champions of change’ raised eyebrows, and rightly so,” Ms Broderick says in the report. “It was not about men speaking for women, or men saving women. I knew then what we’ve seen proven many times since: if you want to accelerate change you must engage those with influence in the effort.

“Our work has been about rewriting outdated narratives, shifting systems built for a bygone era, and designing new ones with fairness, safety and inclusion at their heart. We’ve proven that when workplaces are made better for women, they’re made better for everyone.”

In every sector, however there were persistent “tough spots”.

Ms Freyer said while more female role models at the top of business was important, it was also important to “normalise” their presence so that it was not categorised as just a woman’s issue.

“It’s a workforce issue, it’s an employment issue, it’s a productivity issue, it’s a capacity issue,” she said. “No single agent, acting alone or no single sector, can solve this. These are whole of society issues that require cross-sector, cross-industry collaboration, and that’s complex.”

The report says that while the gap between male and female participation in the workforce remains, it is closing. Blended average weekly earnings for women are 11 per cent lower than for men.

The long-term impact of these gendered economic outcomes was reflected in the 30 per cent difference in superannuation balances between men and women reaching retirement age.

“Women remain under-represented in CEO and leadership positions across the private sector; gender pay gaps still exist across most sectors, particularly in the private sector; many industries remain highly gender-segregated, limiting pathways and opportunities for men and women and reinforcing unequal outcomes,” the report says.