Released 08/11/2018
Twenty one women in the ACT public service will take part in a mentoring program that aims to support the development of women in the workplace, particularly those who work in male-dominated areas.
The ACT Public Service Women’s Mentoring Program pilot will help develop and evaluate the most effective way to deliver mentoring opportunities for women in the public service, and raise awareness of gender equality.
The pilot provides for 21 paired mentors and mentees to participate in a formal program for seven months.
There has been a large amount of interest in the program from women in the ACT public service, with every ACT Government directorate to be represented in the pilot.
This program is an important action in the ACT Women’s Plan 2016-26: First Action Plan 2017-19 and aims to support women working in diverse fields, in areas that tend to be male dominated, or those who have not had access to such a program before.
The program aims to support higher performance of participants and demonstrate the value that diversity in leaders can bring to the ACT Public Service.
The ACT Government is committed to improving gender equality in all walks of society, particularly in the workplace, and it’s important that we continue to lead by example.
Importantly, the retention of women in the public service is a key consideration of this work – it’s important for the women, and it’s beneficial for the public service. We know that by providing greater support for skills development, confidence and overcoming practical challenges encourages many women to stay in a workplace longer.
Even though women in the ACT public service do quite well in terms of remuneration and leadership opportunities, it remains a fact that we still have a gender pay gap both in the public sector (3.1%) and across the ACT (12.4%).
Women will still retire on less retirement savings or superannuation than men, but on the flipside, we know that male employees still don’t access family friendly workplace provisions as much as they could which still presents a stigma for those women and men who do.
- Statement ends -
Yvette Berry, MLA | Media Releases
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