The Champions of Change Fire and Emergency Group have released their third progress report to provide a snapshot update on actions, outcomes and achievements over the past 12 months regarding gender equality priorities.
This includes a detailed update on gender representation data from across the sector, including frontline service and delivery roles. The Champions of Change Fire and Emergency Group members remain committed to their goals of gender equality, advancing more women into leadership, and building professional, respectful and inclusive environments for all.
Flexible working strategies
Highlights from the 2019-20 progress report include:
- Members achieved gender balance or an increase in women’s representation across 66.4% of employment categories in 2020.
- 9% women’s representation achieved overall across the group, compared to 22.0% in 2018 when the group released its first report.
- 8% of overall hires across the group were women.
- 6% of members now have mainstreamed flexible working strategies in place.
- 3% of members have systems and structures in place to address bias and ensure equality in recruitment and promotion processes.
The Champions of Change Fire and Emergency Group includes representatives from metropolitan, rural and regional communities across Australia and New Zealand. A particular priority is building the representation of women in frontline service delivery positions which serve as a critical pathway to leadership positions in the sector.