A debate will take place in Canberra today about whether or not quotas should be introduced in Australia to place more women in senior roles. Speaking in favour of quotas will be Ita Buttrose, Royal Australian Air Force group captain Sue McGready and UN Women Australia executive director Julie McKay. On the opposition side are Defence Material Organisation strategic reform general manager Jane Wolfe, arts advocate Robyn Archer and RedBalloon founder Naomi Simpson. The debate, organised by the Australian Institute of Management, will be held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra. According to latest figures from the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, only 12.5% of directors in the ASX 200 are women, despite women making up 45.6% of the total labour force in Australia. 72 of the ASX 200 companies do not have a single woman on their board. The 2010 EOWA Australian Census of Women in Leadership (Census) revealed that there had been little overall change to the number of female board directors and senior managers in the ASX 200 since 2008. It established that, as of April 2010, women in the ASX 200 made up:

  • 2.5% of chairs
  • 3.0% of CEOs
  • 8.4% of board directors
  • 8.0% of executive managers

However, some improvements are evident, with women representing 30% of all new appointments to ASX 200 boards in 2011, compared to only 25% in 2010. Quotas for women in senior levels were this week adopted by Belgium, whose senate approved a plan for state and public companies to give women 30% of seats on management boards. Under the new legislation, which will come into force from next year, any time a board member ends his mandate, he is to be replaced by a woman until the 30% quota is filled. The law will be re-evaluated in 12 years. Belgium is following the examples set first by Norway and later by France. The European Commission wants more diversity on management boards and has looked at the feasibility of imposing hard quotas. Whether Australia will eventually follow suit remains to be seen.