Corporations and public service ordered to help Asian-Australians break bamboo ceiling

Experts have used the Asian-Australian Leadership Awards to both celebrate the nation’s most influential Asian-Australians and call out the lack of diversity and opportunities in workplaces.

Corporations and the public service have been told to address boardroom bias and promote Asian-Australians to leadership roles to shatter the “bamboo ceiling”.

Data from think tank Asialink reveals 3 per cent of senior management positions are held by Asian-Australians despite one in five people in Australia having an Asian cultural heritage.

Executive search firm Johnson Partners also revealed figures that show 93 per cent of board members and 94 per cent of top CEOs on ASX-listed companies have either an Anglo-Celtic or European background.

Workplace and cultural experts used the Asian-Australian Leadership Awards in Melbourne on Wednesday night to call out the lack of diversity and opportunity in workplaces.

Asialink CEO Martine Letts said corporations, the public service and university sector needed to “up its game”. “The C suite, whether that’s senior executives and boards, as well as the Australian public service, need the most growth. A lot of young Asian-Australians do very well at the lower levels,” she said.

Asialink chief executive officer Martine Letts.

She said workplaces could help break the “bamboo ceiling”.

“At the board level … If in their circle, someone doesn’t know an Asian-Australian, they won’t even be aware of the talent that’s out there unless they consciously go looking for it.”