Target 1: Women to hold 50% of all Australian Government board positions
We have met this target for the fourth consecutive year with 54.3% of overall board positions being held by women.
For the first time in 2024–25, this figure includes all appointed positions (such as ex-officio), not just government appointed positions as per the previous methodology. If reporting on government appointed board positions only, 55.7% of government appointed positions were held by women – an increase of 1.3% since 2023-24.
Table 1 – Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards as at 30 June, from 2017 to 2025
| Year | Number of boards | Number of filled reportable positions | Number of reportable positions filled by women | Percentage of reportable positions filled by women | Percentage point change since previous year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25* | 357 | 3,145 | 1,707 | 54.3% | -0.1 |
| 2023-24 | 347 | 2,187 | 1,190 | 54.4% | +2.8 |
| 2022-23 | 344 | 2,208 | 1,139 | 51.6 | +0.2 |
| 2021-22 | 335 | 2,214 | 1,138 | 51.4 | +1.8 |
| 2020-21 | 342 | 2,315 | 1,149 | 49.6 | +1.1 |
| 2019-20 | 343 | 2,489 | 1,206 | 48.5 | +0.6 |
| 2018-19 | 341 | 2,313 | 1,109 | 47.9 | +2.1 |
| 2017-18 | 339 | 2,530 | 1,158 | 45.8 | +3.1 |
| 2016-17 | 337 | 2,508 | 1,072 | 42.7 | +2.2 |
*Note 2024-25 methodology changes to include all positions, including ex-officio, in 2024-25.
Target 2: Women to hold at least 40% of Australian Government board positions at the individual board level
At the current rate of change it will take 3 years to meet the target.
83.8% of individual boards across all portfolios have met this target. This means that of the 357 boards across government portfolios, 299 boards have at least a 40% representation of women. This is an increase from 78.4% in 2023–24.
Table 2 – Representation of women on individual boards, as at 30 June 2025
| Metric | Boards with less than 40% representation of women | Boards with 40 to 60% representation of women | Boards with more than 60% representation of women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of boards | 58 | 188 | 111 |
| Percentage of boards | 16% | 53% | 31% |
Target 3: Women to hold 50% of Australian Government board positions at the portfolio level (introduced in 2024-25)
At the current rate of change it will take 5 years to meet the target.
70.6% of portfolios have met this target. This means that 12 of 17 portfolios have at least 50% representation of women across their portfolio. This is an increase of 1 portfolio since the baseline 2023–24 reporting period.
Of the portfolios that didn’t meet the target, all were 4 percentage points or less from the 50% target.
Table 3 – Gender Balance of overall Australian Government board positions as at 30 June 2025, by portfolio
| Portfolio | Number of boards as at 30 June 2025 | Number of filled positions as at 30 June 2025 | Number of positions filled by women as at 30 June 2025 | Percentage of positions filled by women as at 30 June 2025 | Percentage of positions filled by women as at 30 June 2024 | Percentage point difference since 30 June 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSS | 4 | 57 | 41 | 71.9 | 60 | +11.9 |
| AGD | 11 | 87 | 57 | 65.5 | 60.8 | +4.7 |
| Education | 27 | 244 | 151 | 61.9 | 57.9 | +4.0 |
| Finance | 9 | 54 | 33 | 61.1 | 61 | +0.1 |
| DoHDA | 44 | 525 | 313 | 59.6 | 59.9 | -0.3 |
| PMC | 4 | 47 | 28 | 59.6 | 57.5 | +2.1 |
| DEWR | 12 | 137 | 76 | 55.5 | 55.7 | -0.2 |
| Treasury | 25 | 213 | 116 | 54.5 | 56.1 | -1.6 |
| DFAT | 19 | 171 | 93 | 54.4 | 57.2 | -2.8 |
| Home Affairs | 5 | 30 | 16 | 53.3 | 53.7 | -0.4 |
| NIAA | 9 | 78 | 40 | 51.3 | 54.7 | -3.4 |
| DITRDCSTA | 102 | 813 | 407 | 50.1 | 49.7 | +0.4 |
| DAFF | 17 | 120 | 59 | 49.2 | 49.1 | +0.1 |
| DISR | 19 | 114 | 56 | 49.1 | 49.5 | -0.4 |
| DCCEEW | 32 | 320 | 157 | 49.1 | 49.3 | -0.2 |
| Defence | 12 | 79 | 38 | 48.1 | 47.5 | +0.6 |
| DVA | 6 | 56 | 26 | 46.4 | 45.5 | +0.9 |
| Total | 357 | 3145 | 1707 | 54.3 | 54.4 | -0.1 |
*Note 2024-25 methodology changes to include all positions, including ex-officio in 2024–25.
Target 4: Women to hold 50% of Chair and Deputy Chair positions on Australian Government boards at the portfolio level (introduced in 2024-25)
At the current rate of change it will take 6 years to meet the target.
52.9% of portfolios have met this target. This means that 9 of 17 portfolios met the target. This is an increase of 2 additional portfolios from the baseline figure from the 2023–24 reporting period.
Table 4 – Gender balance of Chair and Deputy Chair positions as at 30 June 2025, by portfolio
| Portfolio | Number of Chair and Deputy Chair positions as at 30 June 2025 | Number of Chair and Deputy Chair positions filled by women as at 30 June 2025 | Percentage of Chair and Deputy Chair positions filled by women as at 30 June 2025 | Percentage of positions filled by women as at 30 June 2024 | Percentage point difference since 30 June 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSS | 7 | 6 | 85.7 | 66.7 | 19.0 |
| Home Affairs | 4 | 3 | 75.0 | 80 | -5.0 |
| DoHDA | 53 | 38 | 71.7 | 57.4 | 14.3 |
| AGD | 16 | 11 | 68.8 | 52.4 | 16.4 |
| Finance | 9 | 6 | 66.7 | 37.5 | 29.2 |
| Education | 31 | 20 | 64.5 | 50 | 14.5 |
| DFAT | 21 | 12 | 57.1 | 42.9 | 14.2 |
| NIAA | 14 | 8 | 57.1 | 45.5 | 11.6 |
| Treasury | 37 | 20 | 54.1 | 50 | 4.1 |
| DITRDCSTA | 156 | 77 | 49.4 | 42.7 | 6.7 |
| DEWR | 17 | 8 | 47.1 | 46.2 | 0.9 |
| DVA | 9 | 4 | 44.4 | 50 | -5.6 |
| DAFF | 23 | 9 | 39.1 | 31.8 | 7.3 |
| Defence | 13 | 5 | 38.5 | 30 | 8.5 |
| DCCEEW | 35 | 13 | 37.1 | 34.5 | 2.6 |
| DISR | 19 | 7 | 36.8 | 40 | -3.2 |
| PMC | 6 | 2 | 33.3 | 40 | -6.7 |
| Total | 470 | 249 | 53.0 | 45.3 | +7.7 |
*Note 2024-25 methodology changes to include all positions, including ex-officio in 2024–25.