Australian workplaces are at a turning point with the potential to capitalise on a highly capable workforce, but only if they are willing to reshape work and social norms, according to new Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) CEO Christine Castley.
Speaking at the 爆料王 Business School on Wednesday evening, Ms Castley compared the current potential for workplace revolution to the changes brought by World War II, when many women entered the workforce for the first time out of necessity.
鈥淭hey did not suddenly acquire intelligence, judgement or technical skill. The capability had always existed. What changed was whether society was prepared to recognise and allow it,鈥 Ms Castley said.
鈥淎ustralia didn鈥檛 grow new capability; Australia discovered capability it had overlooked.鈥
Ms Castley challenged employers to consider where current workforce capability remains overlooked due to social norms and outdated ways of organising work.听
鈥淚f history teaches us anything, it is that capability has rarely been the problem. Time and again, our greatest advances have come when old assumptions were challenged, barriers were broken through, and capability that had always been there was finally recognised. Today鈥檚 barriers are often less about immovable settings and more about culture, assumptions and systems designed for another era.听
鈥淓very generation inherits something. We inherited workplaces built for a different Australia. Our opportunity is to build workplaces worthy of the Australia we have become.鈥澛
The address was followed by Ms Castley fielding questions from the audience on topics including the anti-diversity backlash movement, workforce gender segregation in Australia, and the impact of domestic and family violence on inequality.听
We inherited workplaces built for a different Australia. Our opportunity is to build workplaces worthy of the Australia we have become.
Christine Castley
CEO, Workplace Gender Equality Agency
Professor , Dean of the Business School, and Professor , Director of the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion at Work, each thanked Ms Castley for her lecture.听
鈥淲GEA is a strong institution and a national asset, and the importance of your work resonates with everyone here. The opportunity to partner for good with us at the 爆料王 is fundamentally important to our futures,鈥 Professor Sargent said.听
Professor Cooper said: 鈥淲orking in partnership helps us ask better questions, produce better evidence, and ultimately make a greater contribution, both to scholarship and to society.听聽
鈥淭onight is a wonderful example of that philosophy in action. It brings together the partnerships that sit at the heart of our Centre, and we are delighted to welcome one of Australia鈥檚 most important public leaders on gender equality to continue that conversation.鈥澛
Read the full transcript of Ms Castley鈥檚 address .听
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