Our approach

Diversity of thinking and having access to the deepest talent pool possible is critical to ANZ’s super regional strategy and our future success. Our CEO and Chair of the Diversity Council, Mike Smith, has made a commitment to champion the issue of women’s participation in the workforce.  He will lead the establishment of a Melbourne chapter of the Male Champions for Change program and has opened the door to other companies to work together to tackle some of the obvious barriers, including accessibility of affordable childcare.

A key component of our diversity strategy is to enable our female employees to contribute fully, to achieve outstanding business results and to build successful careers at ANZ.

Organisations that are employers of choice for women have access to a larger talent pool, are well positioned to represent the needs of customers and communities and understand the direct link between a higher proportion of women in top management and increased profitability.
We have invested significantly over many years to develop an organisational culture that enables and promotes the advancement of women at ANZ. As we continue to pursue our super-regional strategy, we are committed to ensuring that ANZ managers and executives appropriately reflect the diversity of our internal population and customer base, in turn enabling our business to break into new markets and maximise new business opportunities.

Please see our Corporate Responsibility reports for previous years' results.

Some of ANZ's key initiatives include:

ANZ Gender Action Network

ANZ’s Gender Action Network connects people who are passionate about gender diversity and prepared to turn this passion into personal action to increase the representation of women at ANZ.  

The Gender Action Network is defined by its focus on activism and providing support, primarily for people managers, both male and female. All existing Network members have pledged to take action to establish gender diversity within their own teams and encourage their colleagues and leaders across ANZ to do the same.

Gender Action Networks currently exist in Australia, New Zealand and India and discussions are underway to establish more formal networks throughout our region. Kathleen Bailey-Lord, is the sponsor of the Gender Action Network and is a keen advocate for tapping into the passion and commitment of middle-level managers across ANZ to help us better understand, attract, develop and retain  women.  

“I’m a strong believer that a diverse workplace delivers better outcomes for our people and our customers.”  

“To be truly customer-centric we need to understand all of our customers. Likewise, if we are to be competitive across all our markets, we need to tap into the full talent pool available to us,” says Kathleen who is also the Group General Manager of our Global Shared Services function.
Mentoring and career development

Coaching, mentoring and networking are offered through various ANZ programs to help women succeed.

ForWARD (For Women Advancing their Rights and Dreams) assists women who are in pre-management or early management to realise their aspirations of working in senior management at ANZ.

The group is open to and run by both male and female members who are interested in championing gender diversity and creating a supportive networking environment.

ForWARD forums are designed to:

  • Create a supportive networking environment for pre-management and early-management women.
  • Provide the opportunity for participants to share in, and learn from, the experiences of guest speakers.
  • Foster mentoring relationships between forum participants and guest speakers.
  • Promote awareness of workplace/lifestyle issues and offer a range of views which participants can discuss and consider according to their own beliefs and ambitions.
  • Provide a supportive and encouraging environment for aspiring females to move forward and upwards in their careers.
Male Champions for Change

Our CEO Mike Smith has joined the ‘Male Champions of Change’ (MCC) program, established by the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick in April 2010.  

Through the MCC, leading Australian CEOs and Directors are using their individual and collective influence to ensure the issues of gender equality and women’s representation in leadership are elevated onto the national business agenda.

Mike is working with Commissioner Broderick to establish a Melbourne chapter of the MCC, while also encouraging members of the ANZ team to become ANZ Male Champions for Change.

These new efforts support existing initiatives to promote gender equality across our business, through our recruitment policies, flexible work practices, parental leave entitlements, affinity networks and mentoring programs, commitment to gender pay equity and Group-wide Diversity Council which is chaired by our CEO.

Find out more about this initiative
Our Results
2012 results

2012 results

We consider a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive workforce a strategic asset for our business and critical to achieving our super regional strategy.

We have set annual gender targets since 2004. This year we aimed to increase the representation of women in management to 40%, however we remained steady at around 38%. While we did not achieve our overall goal, there was progress at the senior executive level. In our Australia Division women hold 43% of all management positions.

Our approach and progress in creating a more gender balanced business was recognized through our citation as Employer of Choice for Women by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (formally known as EOWA) for the eighth time.

Performance data

As at 30 September 2012, the proportion of women employed at different levels of ANZ is as follows:

Group Baseline
(30 Sept 2011)		 30 September
2012 Target		 30 September
2012 results
Senior executives 22.8% 24.0% 23.9%
Senior manager 28.5% 31.5% 28.1%
Manager 40.3% 42.0% 39.6%
Total women in management 38.2% 40.0% 37.8%
Religion/Country Gender Split (30 September 2012)
  % Male % Female
Australia 43.2% 56.8%
New Zealand 38.3% 61.7%
Asia 43.4% 56.6%
EAMEI1 65.3% 34.7%
Pacific 41.7% 58.3%

1Europe, America, Middle East and India

Further actions this year have included:

  • Forming a new partnership as primary sponsor of Chief Executive Women (CEW), an organisation focused on facilitating greater representation of women at senior levels. CEW is a member-based organisation, comprising more than 200 of Australia’s leading business women, including five senior ANZ women.
  • Our CEO is working with the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick as part of the Male Champions for Change program, to ensure the issues of gender equality, pay equity and women’s representation in leadership are elevated onto the national business agenda.
  • Continuing to review our Flexibility and Parental Leave policies to ensure we not only support the transition of women back to work but that we recognise the trend towards shared caring of children and the realities of managing work in an increasingly globalised business environment. This includes looking for further opportunities to enhance and simplify our HR policies around diversity and tailoring solutions to suit local business needs and trends.
  • Focussing on achieving pay equity for like roles across our business and taking action throughout our annual pay review process where unjustified discrepancies occur.
  • Pursuing gender balance in our recruitment, talent and learning programs, with women comprising 44% and 45% of overall participation in the Generalist Bankers Program and Graduate Program respectively.
  • Continuing to support the advancement of women in society, particularly those from disadvantaged and low-income backgrounds. Our Saver Plus, MoneyMinded and Moneybusiness programs include mostly female participants and aim to support their economic empowerment and broader inclusion in society.

 

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