parity

The 24th report on the state of the APS has revealed strong engagement as well as some troubling data on sexual data complaints.

When it comes to reversing male dominance in public sector leadership roles, governments are choosing to start outside their own departments. Tasmania is the latest to see quick wins on public sector boards.

Women have overtake men in all salary bands except the very top, reflecting a trend of more women in executive roles. Meanwhile, increases in other monitored equal opportunity groups such as culturally diverse and Aboriginal representation have been more modest.

Learning about how unconscious bias can affect recruitment and promotion decisions was “both confronting and rewarding” for Greg Johannes, the head of the Tasmanian State Service. In an extremely rare occurence, all secretaries and deputy secretaries took the same course.

Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew Colvin spoke to a packed house of public sector people about his efforts to reform organisational culture, particularly around gender equity. He says it’s not about fixing the AFP, because it’s not broken.

Tasmania’s eight department heads have jointly committed to gender parity in senior roles. Getting to 40% women at the top level by 2020 is their first target as the State Service tackles the merit paradox.