Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards

The Office for Women collates an annual report on government's performance against Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards targets.

Gender balance targets

The Australian Government is committed to achieving the following targets, as set out in Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality.

Women to hold 50% of all Australian Government board positions
Women to hold at least 40% of Australian Government board positions at the individual board level.
Women to hold 50% of Australian Government board positions at the portfolio level (introduced in 2024-25).
Women to hold 50% of Chair and Deputy Chair positions on Australian Government boards at the portfolio level (introduced in 2024-25).

2024-25 results

Target	2024-25 results
Women to hold 50% of all Australian Government board positions	This target has been met for the fourth consecutive year with 54.3% of overall board positions being held by women.
Women to hold at least 40% of Australian Government board positions at the individual board level.	This target has been met by 83.8% of individual boards across all portfolios.
Women to hold 50% of Australian Government board positions at the portfolio level (introduced in 2024-25).	This target has been met by 70.6% of portfolios.
Women to hold 50% of Chair and Deputy Chair positions on Australian Government boards at the portfolio level (introduced in 2024-25).	This target has been met by 52.9% of portfolios.

2024-25 reporting methodology

The 2024-25 annual gender balance on Australian Government boards results include two changes in methodology. Both align with achieving a wider breadth of gender balance on Australian Government boards.
These changes include:

Two new targets to achieve gender balance on Australian Government boards at the portfolio level and the Chair and Deputy Chair level.
Expanding reporting methodology to capture all appointments on relevant Australian Government boards, rather than only those made by government.

Annual reports

The Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Report 2024-2025 provides a gender analysis of the composition of Australian Government boards for the period 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

Available reports:

To access previous years’ Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards reports, you can visit Trove.