University of Adelaide is Employer of Choice for Women

Wednesday, 22 February 2006

The University of Adelaide has been named an official Employer of Choice for Women by the Federal Government's Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA).

The EOWA citation recognises employers that are supportive of women through policies and practices that have a positive outcome for women and for the organisation as a whole.

The University of Adelaide's Gender, Equity and Diversity Committee Convenor, Professor Michael Innes, said: "We are delighted to receive this recognition for the way we actively support our women staff members through family-friendly flexible employment policies and practices; for our inclusive and equitable workplace culture; and for the various strategies - some already in place and some still being developed further - to attract, retain and develop our women employees.

"The University of Adelaide has a long and proud tradition of helping women find success and, from the start, was a progressive institution. It was the first Australian university to admit women to academic courses in 1881; it graduated Australia's first woman surgeon (Laura Margaret Fowler); the first woman elected to a university Council in Australia (Helen Mayo); and the first woman to be a Queen's Counsel, South Australian Supreme Court Judge, Chancellor of a university and Governor of an Australian state - none other than the redoubtable Dame Roma Mitchell.

"But we don't want to rest on our laurels and indeed realise we need to encourage more women into senior academic posts. This year we will be working closely with each Faculty to further develop strategies to continue this process."

Some University of Adelaide good practice and initiatives include:
· Two women's networks: the Women's Professional Development Network and the Academic Women's Forum
· Women's mentoring program to help women staff meet their full personal and professional potential
· A promotions policy that ensures staff who are employed part-time or who have had career breaks are not disadvantaged
· A Gender, Equity and Diversity Committee which reports directly to the Vice-Chancellor.

NOTE: The EOWA's media kit is available at www.eowa.gov.au

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