The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has released its employers of choice citations for 2020, and some of property’s biggest names are on the list.
This year, 119 organisations received a 2020 WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation, including Scentre Group, Dexus, Stockland, Frasers Property Australia, The GPT Group, Investa, Mirvac and Laing O’Rourke.
The citations, established in 2014, recognise active commitment to gender equality in Australian workplaces.
According to Libby Lyons, director of WGEA, these employers have “reaped the many business and workplace culture benefits from implementing leading-practice measures in their workplaces”.
Research from WGEA has found citation holders perform better on several gender equality indicators when compared to other organisations in WGEA’s data set.
This includes a faster reduction in the gender pay gap over a five-year period, as well as a higher representation of women on boards and at all management levels.
Citation holders also have a higher proportion of female employees working full-time: 57 per cent, compared with 39 per cent in the general workforce.
Scentre Group made the list for the third time. According to CEO Peter Allen, this “acknowledges the work we have done right across the organisation”.
“I’m proud to say that all of our people today are paid fairly and equitably without any gender bias, we embrace flexible working and encourage everyone to bring their whole self to work.
“We also recently updated our parental leave policy to help our parents ‘share the care’,” Allen says.
Dexus CEO Darren Steinberg says his company is also “proud to be part of a small group of Australian leaders who are at the forefront of the momentum for change”.
In 2019, Dexus achieved 37 per cent female representation across senior and executive management roles against its target of at least 40 per cent – an improvement from 34 per cent in 2018. Female representation at the board level was 38 per cent.
Stockland managing director and CEO Mark Steinert says achieving gender equality “remains a pressing and fundamental social, cultural and corporate challenge and opportunity”.
Stockland has closed the gender pay gap to 1.5 per cent across its workforce and “worked hard to achieve gender balance” of 40:40:20, Steinert says.
At the end of last financial year “women made up 45.8 per cent of people in management roles, with percentages steadily increasing year on year”.
“These astute industry leaders are showing other Australian businesses how to… create a better and more equal future for both women and men,” Lyons adds.