Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE)

SAGE Athena Swan

The Athena Scientific Women's Academic Network (Athena SWAN) Charter is an internationally recognised framework dedicated to advancing gender equity, diversity and inclusion (GEDI) in higher education and research. In Australia, Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) is the only organisation responsible for administering the Athena Swan framework, delivering an accreditation pathway tailored to our national context. SAGE has worked closely with the sector since 2015 to support institutions on their GEDI journey.

A Brief History

The Athena Swan Charter was established in June 2005 in the United Kingdom by the Equality Challenge Unit (now part of Advance HE), with the original aim of encouraging and recognising commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) in higher education and research. Over time, the Charter expanded beyond STEMM to encompass all disciplines and roles, marking a pivotal shift towards a comprehensive, intersectional gender equity framework.

In 2025, the University of New England (UNE) proudly joined the SAGE Athena Swan pathway, committing to embed the 10 key Athena Swan Principles across our policies, practices, action plans and institutional culture.

Athena Swan Principles

UNE's commitment to the Athena Swan Charter means we uphold the following 10 principles:

  1. Ensure that gender equity, diversity and inclusion work is appropriately resourced, distributed, recognised, and rewarded.
  2. Undertake transparent and rigorous self-assessment processes, analysing institutional structures, systems, and cultures to identify the barriers to attraction, retention and progression for staff and students, and thus to gender equity, diversity and inclusion.
  3. Design initiatives based on institutional data, and national and global evidence of best practice.
  4. Monitor, evaluate, and publicly report on progress made, challenges experienced, and impact achieved, to inform continuous improvement.
  5. Actively incorporate Indigenous knowledges and perspectives to address the specific inequities and injustices experienced by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander staff and students.
  6. Consciously consider all genders, recognising that gender is not binary, and that trans and gender diverse people face specific inequities because of their gender identities.
  7. Take an intersectional approach to advancing gender equity, diversity and inclusion, recognising that people of any particular identity are not a homogeneous group.
  8. Engage with those most impacted by inequitable practice to proactively redesign and reshape structures, systems and culture.
  9. Increase the safety and wellbeing of staff and students by proactively and transparently preventing and responding to bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, gender-based violence and discrimination.
  10. Embed change in institutional governance and accountability structures; actively and visibly champion and promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion in our Institutions, the Athena Swan community, and across the sector; and hold ourselves and other senior leaders accountable for driving sustainable transformational change.

UNE’s  Pathway to the Athena Swan Bronze Award

UNE is currently undertaking a comprehensive self-assessment and application process to:

  • gain a thorough understanding of the current state of gender equity, diversity and inclusion across the University;
  • identify the structural, systemic and cultural barriers that impede the attraction, retention and progression of staff and students, and which contribute to inequity and a lack of diversity and inclusion; and
  • develop a robust Action Plan to remove or reduce five Key Barriers.

We will continue to share updates and information about the Athena Swan program on this page.

For enquiries, please contact us at Athena-Swan@une.edu.au.

Leadership

Prof Sujana Adapa
Chair of the Steering Group - Athena Swan
Executive Dean of Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law

A/Prof Skye Charry
Academic Lead - Athena Swan
Associate Professor - School of Law

Andrey Orlando Asian
Project Officer - Athena Swan

Terms of Reference

Click the button below to read the Terms of Reference or you can download the PDF version.

Terms of Reference