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Media Release | Women in Local Government Management - National Forum

9 September 2008
From the Office of the Chief Executive

National push for women in senior management positions.

The Australian local government sector has designated 2010 as the Year of Women in Local Government to celebrate and promote the advancement of women into senior management positions.

The announcement follows a national forum of representatives from local, state and commonwealth governments, local government associations and peak professional bodies that was convened by Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA) and held in Canberra last week.

Speaking at the conclusion of the forum, LGMA National President and Chief Executive Officer of the City of Unley (SA), Ray Pincombe said the Year of Women in Local Government is a powerful and proven method of raising awareness and educating the local government sector on the value and capacity of women as senior managers.

“The topic of women in local government and in particular women in management positions has been around for a long time,” Mr Pincombe said. “All levels of government are acutely aware of the barriers facing women in management positions, yet nationally only a handful of councils are addressing the issue.

“Currently women in senior management roles represent only 20% of the local government workforce, and only 5% of chief executives or general managers are women.

“Unless we as a sector embrace gender diversity and adopt more transparent and flexible work practices in attracting and retaining our female employees, then the local government sector will not have the depth of talent to survive.”

Mr Pincombe also said that the support for a Year of Women in Local Government represented an overwhelming show of solidarity from all levels of government and professional peak bodies.

“This is not about women in management, as business leaders or as representatives on boards as a cause. It is about ensuring that business diversity accurately reflects community interests and more importantly, that women are seen as a real solution to the skills shortage problems we face today.

“We (LGMA) hope to encourage all local government stakeholders to join with us in conducting complementary activities that will help to celebrate the Year of Women in Local Government in 2010.”

Five key themes were identified in defining the Year of Women in Local Government and include: removing structural barriers to advancing women into senior management positions; improving the image of local government as an ‘employer of choice’ for women; preparing women to lead in local government; affirming women’s rights to be ‘at the table’; and implementing effective evaluation methods for measuring meaningful progress.

These themes will form the basis of a year-long program of initiatives and activities that celebrate and promote women into senior management positions, including reverse mentoring, professional development programs, women’s and men’s only forums and networks, and programs that acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of women in the local government sector.

A working party consisting of over 10 representatives from the local, state and commonwealth government sectors, local government associations and peak professional bodies has been formed to define and develop the way forward for the Year of Women in Local Government.

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For more information contact Helen Diggerson or John Ravlic on +61 3 9682 9222.