Gender quotas for Jan 26 honours ‘not needed’

A Labor plan for gender targets in Australia Day awards has been dismissed as potentially unworkable and totally unnecessary.

Order of Australia holder Suzanne Chambers thinks honours quotas are unnecessary. Picture: Britta Campion

A Labor plan for gender targets in Australia Day awards has been dismissed as potentially unworkable and totally unnecessary, with the “40 per cent by 2020” quota on track to be met under the existing merit-based system.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said yesterday Labor would set the 40 per cent target because women received on average only 30 per cent of the awards, while also flagging an overhaul of award categories to better favour female-dominated fields.

However, Council for the Order of Australia chairman Shane Stone told The Australian that without sufficient female nominations, those deciding the awards would be unable to satisfy a quota.

“If we were short (on female nominations), I don’t know where you get them from,” Mr Stone said. “If they haven’t been nominated, they haven’t been nominated.”

In 2018, women made up 31 per cent of all Order of Australia (general division) nominations. Of these, 77 per cent were successful, with women making up 33 per cent of all recipients.

Mr Stone, a former Country Liberal Party chief minister of the Northern Territory, said his council was non-political and would work with whatever legislation the government provided.

However, he said the 40 per cent target by 2020 suggested by Ms Plibersek was “absolutely” likely to be met with no change in the current merit-based system.

 

While the figure for 2019 is under embargo, data and material provided to The Australian by the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General suggests the percentage of female recipients is likely to be the highest ever and not far short of Ms Plibersek’s quota.

In 2018, women received 35.6 per cent of Australia Day and Queen’s Birthday honours, and a spokesman suggested the ongoing upwards trend meant a figure north of this was likely to be reflected in the Australia Day awards announced later today.

Mr Stone confirmed the council was “well on track” to achieve the 40 per cent target by 2020 under a purely merit-based system.

However, Ms Plibersek said the system was failing while women were unequally represented. “If you have a look there are stand-alone categories, for example, for mining, for engineering, for primary industries and so on. But the areas where women traditionally work or volunteer are often subsumed in other categories. Nursing, for example, has no stand-alone category.”

Labor would monitor data to see whether indigenous and­ ­disabled people were under-represented.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne questioned whether quotas were needed. “I think there’s more than enough fabulous Australian women to fill the honours application process without needing quotas,’’ she said.

Former female recipients of awards were divided on the issue. Suzanne Chambers, dean of health at the University of Technology Sydney who was awarded an OA last year, said the focus should be on achievement.

“Australian honours are incredibly important things for our society and I’ve never thought there should be quotas,” she said.

Former Macquarie Dictionary editorSusan Butler, who was awarded an OA for her work as lexicographer, said quotas were necessary. “It is certainly true many more men are getting these awards than women, and quotas would certainly sort that out,” she said.

Additional Reporting: Paul Maley, Sascha O’Sullivan