Respect is a Fundamental Ingredient

Respect is a Fundamental Ingredient

by | Nov 22, 2022 | Economics

For Leonora Risse, being taken seriously as an economist has not been easy, particularly as she has chosen to encourage other women into the field.

Leonora earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland. She has previously served as a Senior Research Economist for the Australian Government Productivity Commission and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Economics at RMIT University in Melbourne. Her research focuses on understanding gender differences in economic opportunities and outcomes encompassing such issues as the gender pay gap, women’s under-representation in leadership and the influence of societal norms.

However, Leonora’s areas of expertise extend to labour economics, demographic economics, economic psychology, disadvantage and wellbeing. She engages regularly with public audiences, government, industry and community groups on gender equality issues. This includes identifying evidence-based strategies to close gender gaps and applying a gender lens to economic analysis and policy design. Leonora was named among Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy in 2021.

Respect Women in Economics
Gender equity has always been a deep mission in her heart. “In my own field of economics, the persistent under-representation of women meant that we needed to take bold action to tackle the deeply ingrained inequities in our profession. For too long, the insights, wisdom and experiences of women and the economic policy issues that matter for women have been overlooked and under-valued.”

 One of her most meaningful contributions was to be part of a wonderful team of women who created the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia in 2017. Its purpose is to tackle inequity head-on. “It has been an honour to serve as National Chair of WEN and play a role in empowering and elevating the many brilliant female economists in Australia whose talent and expertise might otherwise go unrecognised. WEN is proving to have a meaningful impact on the economics profession in our country.”

Leonora continues; “Members of our WEN community attest that WEN has had the effect of broadening the spectrum of topics that are on the agenda, elevating economic issues that are of concern to women and improving the visibility of female economists in public debate.” Perhaps most significantly in touching people’s lives, WEN members report they feel a stronger sense of belonging and inclusion. Even men in the profession attest that WEN has made a positive impact.

“Across my research, advocacy and policy engagement on gender equality, I have strived to use my research insights to help empower policymakers, organisations and advocates with tools for change. Equipping others with a deeper and authentic knowledge of what works to close gender gaps and using factual evidence to help dispel myths that get in the way of true progress, is all part of our armour. I am deep believer in democratising this knowledge and am keenly in the process of creating a Gender Equality Evidence Hub as an open-access online portal to help equip more advocates with these tools.”

women in economics
In all her work, Leonora firmly believes, “Gender equality is about respect, inclusion and empowerment for all women, from all backgrounds and across all communities. Gender equality is not progress if some groups of women are being left behind.”

Leonora believes gender equity needs to include men as part of societal change. Through her research and policy work, she aims to help build an awareness that gender norms and biases are constrictive and damaging for men too. “This helps us move towards this goal of gender equality and dismantling the gender norms that perpetuate biases and barriers as a shared, collective, society-wide mission.” Her unwavering belief is that gender equality is a human right.

“It’s about dignity, respect, the opportunity to achieve our potential and for each person’s contribution to be fairly valued. It is uplifting to be part of a global community of change-makers who hold this value dear to their hearts.”

 

CHECK OUT THE OTHER WINNERS
The Gender Equity Roadmap

The Gender Equity Roadmap

by | Nov 17, 2022 | Uncategorized

The Gender Equity Road map started here.

It started with a dream to find out what great businesses and individuals were doing to champion gender equity.  Amazingly a vast array of businesses stepped up to share their practices and many humble Individuals who were nominated have shared their stories.  The journey had begun. The process involved 20 diverse judges, 50% women and men, industry experts from all walks of business who invested their expertise. All of this was overviewed by KPMG to ensure the results were unbiased and valid.

We are excited to announce that eight months later we can share the initiatives and the behaviours that are consistently making a difference.

It’s all about people.

Overall, the leading companies are able to look after their people as individuals, with an array of flexibility and resources that are making a difference. Easy to say but hard to imagine so here are some examples.

Cotton On have a mantra of “inspiring, caring for and growing their people is at the heart of who they”. They have a smorgasbord of initiatives that range from: –

  • the Family & You Childcare offered affordably and for piece of mind of their head office team
  • to Returnity, a phased return to work program after parental leave,
  • to Baby and YOU Packs A pack of sleepwear, activewear and newborn essentials
  • to Furry friends’ initiatives for the 4-pawed family members

In the manufacturing industry Jayco have innovated to enable working mothers to work in short shifts around their parenting duties of school drop off & pick-up. The impact for both has been amazing with the mums being able to re-enter the workforce and gain some financial stability. From Jayco’s perspective this shift is incredibly productive. They also sponsor development for women from the factory floor into all levels of management. This has impacted the leadership team which has gone from 20% women to 50% today.

In the legal industry, Coulter Legal are championing flexibility in working at all levels. For example, they have Senior Principal Lawyer in a part time role. Unheard of this industry and it’s not just five days of work squashed into four, they have realigned the KPI’s to spread the responsibility across the team.  Another example is unbiased professional progression, on one occasion they promoted one of their Lawyers to Senior Lawyer while she was on maternity leave.

A number of these organisations actively champion and engage with communities that are discriminated against like Polaron who champion migrant women into their language services businesses.

Accuteque are an IT company started by Caroline Patton with the majority of directors & senior leaders being women, again highly unusual in IT. They promote unbiased recruitment based on their policy of  “we accept people for who they are”. This embraces people of all ages whether returning to work, at the end of the career or starting out.

 

It’s all about equity

In the sporting industry, which is traditionally male dominated GippSport, they have been at the forefront advocating for Gender Equality implementing a huge breadth of initiatives. They understood that to positively impact the gender imbalance on the pitch they would need to start with their own organisation. CEO Dan Pynton, is incredibly proud of the work they have done to recruit and develop the women on the GippSport team. It hasn’t been easy; they have had to chase down funding and invest equitably in women to address the imbalance that is historical in the community sport sector. As a result, one of their team has completed the Foundation Company Directors program, others have finished the various Government funded Emerging Leader’s program’s and three traineeships have been established.

“It is about equity, not equality,” says Dan.

In a proactive effort to ensure his team was on board with the investment in women, Dan started with training his male staff as allies. Today, GippSport has grown to three times its former size with women’s representation changing from 20% of the team to 60%. This is replicated on GippSport’s Board where 5 of 8 of the Directors are women from a range of backgrounds and professions.

 

It’s all about fairness

The Construction Training Centre. Created a landmark initiative when they determined to pay an extra 1% superannuation to all their female employees as well as continuing their full super whilst on maternity leave. Driven by the huge gap in superannuation between men and women at retirement, CEO, Phil Diver, felt the initiative was justified. His first challenge was to get his organisation and board onside which involved a number of robust discussions. With the support of the board and key sponsor the late Ron Monaghan, the initiative was approved. (Ron was also the driving force behind having the stolen wages for First Nations people repaid by the Queensland government.)  However, to do so it had to be done lawfully which required arguing the case before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. QCAT ruled in favour of the Construction Training Centre and the superannuation changes were approved and implemented. At the time, this decision created some media interest in Queensland and the female staff have been enjoying the additional superannuation for over five years.

It’s all in the words …

In some cases, it’s the semantics that count. Simply changing the parental leave offering by removing the primary & secondary carer status has had a huge impact. It has changed how employees feel, it demonstrates a culture of caring for families and it has had a huge uptake by both male & female employees.

Its all about breaking down the biases

GippSport actively support female leaders across all community sporting groups to succeed. In one example a new president of the Board riders association in Phillip Island was elected and as the second female to hold the role felt “out of her depth”. With the support of the team, she has embraced the role and is now widely recognised as a role model.  

In other activities they champion coaches & other leaders who form non-traditional role models in an effort to break down stereotypes with a goal to reduce domestic violence.

 

It’s all about inclusion…

Many of these businesses have broadened parental leave to encompass adoption, IVF and even recognising still birth leave needs.

Inclusion starts with finding those excluded or discriminated against. All these organisations have gone out of their way to establish inclusive networks to encourage these individuals to find their voice & overcome their obstacles.

There are many male dominated industries like technology and manufacturing. Certainly businesses with in technology have been innovative with programs such as She Builds AWS Girls Tech Days and Go Girl Go for IT. Others have implemented ones to reskill women in technology so they are employable into this lucrative market.

It takes a village to create change

From an individual perspective we discovered a common trait in all the finalists was their willingness to go above and beyond, to challenge the status quo, & help create the change that was needed.

Leonie Noble was frustrated with government edicts that impacted the fishing industry and determined to “have a voice” . After loads of letter writing the minister came to town and encouraged her to get involved with policy. Today she is still advocating for necessary changes, as the president of the National Rural Women’s Coalition her remit has expanded, she now has a voice for rural women all over the world

Leonora Risse, as a senior economist, has felt women  in economics were persistently being under represented and rarely present in the media. To create change she co-founded the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia in 2017, to tackle this inequity head-on. The outcome has been to the elevating of economic issues that are of concern to women, for instance COVID impact to the gender pay gap, and improving the visibility of female economists in public debate.

It ends with a dream..

Now it’s up to you. Take these ideas and apply them to your industry or business or perhaps challenge the status quo. If we all play a part no matter how big or small we can make difference. It takes a village to raise a child and it is going to take all of us to create Gender Equality.

 

These stories are told in full on the Recalibrate – Gender Equity Awards website. 

Check out the Awards night
Fairness is Simply Good Business Sense

Fairness is Simply Good Business Sense

by | Nov 17, 2022 | Construction

Over the years, Phil Diver has become passionate about gender equity and is now driven by his desire to achieve fairness in the workplace. Yet he has had to undergo some personal challenges to end up where he is.

Starting out in an all-boys school, he was led to believe men were smarter than women. At university, a series of confronting episodes made him doubt this earlier teaching as he noticed his female counterparts being very capable of asking “next-level” questions and demonstrating enviable levels of intelligence. A hard truth needed to be swallowed: he’d been misled.

Since those early years, Phil has become CEO of the Construction Training Centre. One of his most notable achievements has been to pave the way to pay an extra 1% superannuation to all his female employees as well as continuing their full super whilst on maternity leave. Driven by the huge gap in superannuation between men and women at retirement, Phil felt the initiative was justified. His first challenge was to get his organisation and board onside which involved a number of robust discussions. With the support of the board and key sponsor the late Ron Monaghan, the initiative was approved. (Ron was also the driving force behind having the stolen wages for First Nations people repaid by the Queensland government.)  However, in order to do so it had to be done lawfully which required arguing the case before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. QCAT ruled in favour of the Construction Training Centre and the superannuation changes were approved and implemented. At the time, this decision created some media interest in Queensland and the female staff have been enjoying the additional superannuation for over five years.

Phil Diver

Prior to this, Phil introduced an accredited breast-feeding room at CTC which has recently celebrated its 10th year. . He admits, “This was one of the harder initiatives to implement as certification by the Breast-Feeding Association of Australia was very stringent perhaps even more so than achieving ISO standards.” For instance, the water needs to be delivered at a consistent temperature.  Nonetheless, Phil felt it sent the right message: everyone is valued so well worth the effort

Phil continues to be at the forefront of gender equity today by providing free sanitary products across the precinct under their Caught Short program. The CTC has numerous toilets spread out across the precinct which Phil and his team manage. The idea came up over a “toilet meeting” to discuss the dangerous misuse of the toilets.  During the discussion, the important question was asked, “How else can we help our clients?” This led to a number of initiatives, one of which is the Caught Short program which today provides sanitary for anyone who finds themselves…caught short! Another was the transgender inclusive toilet to provide a sense of security and value for those who attend the precinct for training, who may identify as transgender or non-binary

Not all Phil’s initiatives revolve around women. Flexibility in employment is important for all genders in relation to parenting and mental health. The CTC has been a strong advocate of the “Mates in Construction” initiative and managed the grant that led to its establishment. This ground-breaking program raises awareness of suicide issues in the construction sector and provides trained workers across the industry with the skills to identify issues and intervene.

Phil reiterates that it is all about valuing people and being fair. It’s pragmatic business sense. Today when others are struggling to attract and retain their workforces, the Construction Training Centre, led by Phil Diver, is creating an outstanding place to work.

 

GippSport – Gender Equity On and Off the Pitch

GippSport – Gender Equity On and Off the Pitch

by | Nov 15, 2022 | Sport

In many regional centres, sport is largely a male dominated pursuit with numerous opportunities for men and far fewer opportunities for women. Not so in Gippsland and for GippSport. As the peak body for community sport and recreation for the Gippsland region, they are well-known for finding a better balance to Change Gippsland’s Game.

Executive Officer, Dan Poynton, understands that to positively impact the gender imbalance on the pitch they would need to start with their own organisation. He is incredibly proud of the work they have done to recruit and develop the women on the GippSport team. It hasn’t been easy; they have had to chase down funding and invest equitably in women to address the imbalance that is historical in the community sport sector. As a result, one of their team has completed the Foundation Company Directors program, others have finished the various Government funded Emerging Leader’s program’s and three traineeships have been established.

“It is about equity, not equality,” says Dan.

In a proactive effort to ensure his team was on board with the investment in women, Dan started with training his male staff as allies. Today, GippSports has grown to three times its former size with women’s representation changing from 20% of the team to 60%. This is replicated on GippSport’s Board where 5 of 8 of the Directors are women from a range of backgrounds and professions.

GippSport works across a network of volunteer sportspeople that run the community clubs in the region. Here they provide support and encouragement to women in all roles from president to canteen manager. In one example, Hannah Eisen became the President of the Phillip Island Board Riders Club. She is the second female president in the club’s 59 years. The day after accepting her nomination, she had a moment of panic. With the support of Gene from the GippSport team, she has grown into the role and today is known as a role model across Victoria. Recently she has been quoted as saying, “Women should feel that they can have a say and make a valuable contribution.”

In another program, GippSport worked to expand the Orange Round campaign through the Victorian Government’s Preventing Violence through Sport grants program. This was carried out in partnership with key stakeholders Gippsland Centre Against Sexual Assault and Gippsland Women’s Health. Their approach was to present the facts; however, this wasn’t achieving the totality of the desired outcome. GippSport collaborated and offered additional advice centred around the traditional gender stereotypes in community sport. They actively sought out and profiled sporting leaders who were in non-traditional roles. For example, Peter Moody, male coach of the Moe A-Grade netball team or Anouk Meereboer, the first female Head Coach of a senior men’s Latrobe Valley Soccer League.

GippSport has emerged as an organisation at the forefront of community and sport development in Victoria. Even though they were not required to, they conducted a Gender Audit and wrote the Gender Equality Action plan for their peak body to lead the Regional Sport Workforce. “We are proud to be the first regional community sport organisation to do so,” says Dan. This work is now being used to inform and support 10 other community sporting organisations to work and achieve gender equality targets in their organisations.

So I married a fisherman…

So I married a fisherman…

by | Nov 14, 2022 | Boards

 

Leonie Noble is a force for change. She uses her role as President of the National Rural Women’s Coalition to influence and create space for women both in Australia and internationally.

For Leonie, “It all started when I married a fisherman.” Being a fisherman’s wife in Western Australia meant spending 5 to 6 months a year at the Abrolhos Islands. It was during one of these stints, after yet another government edict which had a significant impact on the local fishing community, that Leonie lost patience. She felt the government should be consulting prior to delivering their changes. So, she rounded up the local fisher folk and started an organisation which in rapid time grew and became the voice of the Abrolhos with governments consistently consulting in a respectful and professional way. 

After much letter writing, their voice was heard, and the Minister came to visit. He was impressed with the Abrolhos community and their stewardship but in the case of Leonie, the then Minister for fisheries felt if she wanted greater input then she would need to become part of the team that developed policy. Soon she was allocated to a number of boards and committees. As the only woman in attendance, she was often confused with the tea lady. One time, she recounts, she was greeted with, “It’s great to have you here Leonie, now can you make the coffee.” To which she replied: “No thanks, but I will have a tea with one sugar.”

Leonie is passionate about stopping bullying behaviour and discrimination regardless of who is displaying it. She is immensely proud of the culture her team has created at the National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC) of which she is the National President. They work with Rural Regional and Remote women, Indigenous and migrant women, the LGBTQI+ community, and Women with Disabilities to name a few. Leonie says, “We do this because we believe that by empowering women, we empower a community. The lessons of equity and equality, and the difference between the two, become easy lessons to take home and be shared with and by everyone.”

Many of her other actions were driven by the desire not to be the token woman and to help other women obtain a voice. She soon discovered awards were a wonderful way to give women a profile which allowed them access to sponsors, governments, and open doors. In the seafood industry, to balance the men recognised for lifetime achievements, she created the Women in Seafood’s Honour Role. This launched in 2019 with an inaugural twenty women recognised. 

As President of Women in Seafood Australasia (WISA), she automatically became part of the Rural Women’s Coalition. It was her roles in WISA and the NRWC that aided Leonie’s application to become an Australian Delegate to attend the APEC WEF in Peru. As part of the delegation, she realised many of the issues women face are the same across the globe. Whilst there she connected with the Chilean delegation and soon became a mentor for their women from the seafood industry.

Since then, Leonie has not looked back. For the past decade, she has been working in the Civil Society Human Rights arena fighting for equality and equity across the globe. This is through speaking at forums such as international conferences and attendance at the UN Commission for the Status of Women (CSW) in New York each year and the Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific in Bangkok. She humbly comments about how much of an impact the Australian Rural Women’s contingent has had on some of the global policies and that Australia is highly regarded on the world stage. 

These days, she is still not taking no for an answer and continues to find new ways to open doors for civil rights and women’s leadership and influence in many locations. Her advice is, “Do what you need to do, make it happen, and don’t worry about what others think.”