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UNE retains 'woman-friendly workplace' status

March 08, 2006

Spokeswomen.thumb.JPGThe University of New England is celebrating International Women’s Day in the knowledge that it has once again received a national “Employer of Choice for Women” citation.

The citation, awarded by the Australian Government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), recognises the success of UNE’s policies and practices in promoting women’s interests in the workplace. UNE’s citation for 2006 – its fourth annual citation in succession – is one of 116 awarded this year to organisations throughout Australia.

Lyn Tucker, Equal Opportunity Officer at UNE, said the citation was based on statistics from March 2005. These showed that women represented 40 per cent of UNE’s academic staff (including 20 per cent of all academic staff above the level of Senior Lecturer) and 58 per cent of its general staff (including 39 per cent of all general staff at or above Level 10). These figures represented significant increases on the previous year, Ms Tucker said.

Programs and policies at UNE aimed at helping women employees realise their full potential include a “Pathways to Careers and Preparation for Promotion” program for academic staff, established in 2004. Ms Tucker said that all participants in this program in 2004 who had applied for promotion had been successful in the 2005 promotion round.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, said he was pleased that the University had been recognised once again for its achievements in implementing such programs. “It’s an indication of the strong policies introduced here in the past,” Professor Pettigrew said, “and we’ll be continuing the University’s work in this direction.”

The list of organisations receiving citations this year includes universities, schools, hotels, banks, manufacturing companies, community and health service organisations, legal firms, and others. The Director of EOWA, Anna McPhee, said: “Employers on this list understand and address the barriers to women’s full participation. From the school principal to the Vice-Chancellor to the CEO of a non-profit organisation or a multinational, they understand their business can’t thrive on under-utilised talent.”

Ms McPhee said the organisations on the list had demonstrated that their policies and practices in support of women had had “a positive outcome for both women and the business”.

Yesterday, on the eve of International Women’s Day, more than 50 women from across the UNE campus gathered in The Chancellory restaurant, Booloominbah, for a morning tea to celebrate the achievements of women at UNE, as well as throughout Australia and abroad.

The photograph displayed here shows Jenny Post (left) and Shelley Harvey at yesterday’s morning tea in Booloominbah.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at March 8, 2006 04:30 PM