A total of 13 CEOs from the built environment consulting sector have come together to support the new gender equality reporting framework.
The group, which is known as the Consult Australia Champions of Change, have written a formal letter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressing support for action taken to address equality in the workplace.
Chair of the group and Hyder Consulting managing director for Australasia, Greg Steele, said all reporting regimes include an element of administrative burden.
"But, as business leaders, we understand the primacy of data and the merits in making the effort to collect it," he said.
“We support the principles of reporting as a valuable tool. The reporting requirements under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 are a framework to help us achieve our workplace diversity and business growth goals. The important thing is to ensure that there is a good balance of efforts and rewards."
The Consult Australia Champions of Change have signed a Charter that commits them to actively advancing equality across their businesses and to acting as advocates for the consulting industry.
Their work is inspired by the Male Champions of Change formed by the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick.
We believe this agenda is a business imperative. The talents of employees with broad experiences in their professional and personal lives deliver productivity, problem solving and businesses success dividends,”Steele said.
Fellow-Champion and Arup’s chair and CEO for the Australasia region, Peter Bailey also expressed his support for gender reporting.
“The consultation process to fine-tune gender equality reporting is an opportunity to increase support for collecting, reporting on, and analysing gender equality data that will deliver huge benefits to the business sector and the economy in general," he said.
