The Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Australia's federal regulator on pay equity, has called for more flexible leadership roles including part-time positions and co-CEO arrangements as a way to retain women in senior management and narrow the country's gender pay gap.
WGEA stated that uneven caring responsibilities combined with a lack of flexible work options have prevented women from remaining in leadership positions. The agency pointed to Australia's gender pay gap, where women earn an average of $0.79 for every $1 a man earns, as evidence that structural barriers persist in senior roles.
The agency warned that resistance to gender equality efforts was increasing and urged employers to redesign management structures to accommodate flexible arrangements. Part-time executive roles and shared CEO positions are presented as mechanisms to address the gap between women who can perform at senior levels but face barriers when those roles demand inflexible full-time commitments.
WGEA did not provide specifics on how many Australian companies currently offer part-time executive positions or co-CEO structures, nor did it quantify the expected impact of such arrangements on the gender pay gap. The agency's position rests on the premise that flexibility in leadership roles would enable more women to remain in senior positions rather than exiting the workforce or stepping back to lower-paid roles.