Leading from the front: gender equality at Australian Unity

Melinda Honig clearly remembers her first job. Australian Unity's Group Executive, Governance, was a 17-year-old casual at an Australian retail fashion house where women held leadership roles in head office and most of the stores. Melinda didn’t realise it then, but what she was witnessing was an organisation that was ahead of the times with its diverse and gender-inclusive culture. That experience would make a massive impact on her future career expectations.

“Later, when I entered the legal profession, I felt I’d taken a step backwards,” she says. “It wasn’t a gender-inclusive space at all. Most senior members were men and the majority of partners were male. Women were only just starting to break in at that level.”

Despite this, Melinda knew there were clear criteria to reach the top of the profession—support and serve your clients well, be productive and accountable. Outside the legal space, however, she observed that pathways to leadership for women were often vague, arduous and, at times, out of reach. There were very few role models.

According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), 48 percent of the Australian workforce is made up of women, but only 22 percent of CEOs are female. And only one in four Australian organisations have a gender-balanced leadership team. At Australian Unity, we're determined to remain one of the "one in fours".

The value of gender-inclusivity

Currently, the eight-person Australian Unity board has five members who are women, including its Chair and Deputy Chair. In addition, women make up 37 percent of senior leadership roles, with the latter figure having climbed steadily over the last five years. It's a situation Melinda attributes to “action from the top”.

“Both our Group Managing Director and Chair saw that diversity at the table leads to richer and better decision-making, so they championed and drove that change throughout the organisation,” she says. “It’s led to improved organisational performance with a greater emphasis on people development, role-modelling behaviour, and a more participative decision-making process.”

But the impact extends far beyond performance. "Achieving in life" is integral to our Real Wellbeing—and it's often driven by our work. By creating an inclusive and diverse organisation, we're working to support the wellbeing of our employees and the Australian community as a whole.

Creating impact within the community

For Lisa Chung AM, Chair of the board, prioritising diversity in the workplace is one important way for an organisation to have a solid and meaningful impact on its community.

“Australian Unity’s work, purpose, products and services reflect our whole community, of which 50 percent are women,” she says. “You can only truly serve your community by representing diversity on your board and throughout your organisation.”

Melinda agrees. As she sees it, promoting gender equality within an organisation has far-reaching consequences.

“The changes women have strived for and achieved have benefited not only them but the whole community,” she says. “The progress of women is the progress of Australia.”

Developing flexible and inclusive workplace policies

According to WGEA, 12.3 percent of women in Australia identify as a caregiver, and women make up seven out of 10 primary carers. In many workplaces, women caregivers are less likely to work in a full-time capacity and more likely to face discrimination for their presumed lack of commitment to their career.

This unconscious bias is what board member Dr Helen Nott wants to see disappear by having more women in leadership. Helen says: “By having strong female representation on the board, we can start to change an endemic system. I have daughters and I want all daughters to have equal and fair access to opportunities. That's why it's so important.”

At Australian Unity, we're supporting our caregivers by offering flexible working options that mean our employees never have to choose between caring for a loved one and a career. And, in July 2022, we introduced 14 weeks paid parental leave for all employees—a policy that Melinda calls “a real game changer” for both women and men.

There’s also the Welcoming Difference Policy, which aims to strike a meaningful balance of women across all levels of the organisation and ensures our remuneration policy is consistently reviewed for gender bias.

The importance of role models

Believing in a dream is easier when you can see someone like you who’s already living it. It’s why board member Su McCluskey can’t overemphasise the importance of having women in key leadership roles.

“They become role models for other women,” she says simply. “The make-up of Australian Unity’s board sends a strong message, not just to our colleagues, but to everyone.”

A diverse team of decision-makers also leads to diversity in thought, which in turn births fresh ideas and clever solutions. Melinda Cilento, Deputy Chair of the board, believes that this changes the culture of the board, which in turn nurtures broader diversity throughout Australian Unity.

“The culture we build and the opportunities we create are fundamental to the whole conversation around gender inclusivity,” she says. “It extends across everything we do.”

The work that still needs to be done to create a gender-inclusive world is tremendous. But like all change, it starts with small steps. And at Australian Unity, we've been taking those steps—thoughtfully, meaningfully and intentionally.