Victoria’s human rights and equal opportunity commissioner Kate Jenkins has appointed the state’s first group of Male Champions of Change.
The concept of a group of male champions was introduced by federal sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. The premise is that men need to stand up and be accountable when it comes to gender equality at work, and the Male Champions of Change was established to encourage this accountability and involvement.
The state of Victoria now has its own champions. The group of 19 appointees includes leaders from the corporate world, the sporting world, and the political sphere. They have each pledged to work towards greater gender equality within their organisations, workplaces and communities and regularly report on their progress.
The group includes former Victorian Premier John Cain, who championed women’s rights while in office in the 1980s. Other prominent male champions include Ken Lay, former Victorian police commissioner who implemented a campaign against gender discrimination in the police force, Gillon McLachlan, CEO of the AFL, and Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne.
Corporate leaders inducted into the group include Newcrest mining chair Peter Hay, NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn and PwC Australia CEO Luke Sayers.
“This will happen when male leadersstep up as leaders, create accountability and disrupt the status quo in their respective organisations. As we do this together, we can then learn from each other and make substantial change,” Sayers told Fairfax Media.
Jenkins has also expressed her optimism that the group will be able to create lasting change for women in Victorian workplaces.
“They come from diverse fields, and with their own reasons for attending. But they have one goal in mind. They want to make our community and our workplaces better for women — for their daughters, wives, sisters, partners, employees and fellow citizens,” she said of the newly appointed members.
“One has four daughters, and sees bias everywhere. One is angry, because he fears little has changed, decades after the introduction of equal pay for women and anti-discrimination laws. One says educating men and empowering women are the keys to change. Some see women as essential to business success. Some argue that ensuring equity is simply the right thing to do.”
She said that combined, the men employ thousands of people and enjoy national and global influence and that, if put to good use, this influence can be a powerful force of change.
Jenkins also addressed the issue of why it is crucial to engage men in the struggle for workplace equality.
“Why men? Because they largely hold the levers of power, even though the progress we’ve achieved is largely due to the activism of women,” she said.
“The men who have joined me are already taking action to promote the role of women. Now, they are taking a step further by publicly declaring they will be champions of change.”
“They will advocate for change. They will commit to tangible action and ensure it is implemented, and they will report transparently on their results.”
The full list of Victoria’s newly minted male champions of change is:
John Cain, former premier of Victoria
Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor, University of Melbourne
Chris Eccles, secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet
James Fazzino, CEO, Incitec Pivot
Adam Fennessy, secretary, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Tony Frencham, managing director, DOW Chemical (Australia and New Zealand)
Gareth Goodier, CEO, Melbourne Health
Peter Hay, chair, Newcrest Mining
Doug Hilton, director, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Damon Johnston, editor-in-chief, The Herald Sun
Brian Kruger, CEO, Toll Group
Ken Lay, former chief commissioner, Victoria Police
Gillon McLachlan, CEO, AFL
Chris Maxwell, president of the Supreme Court of Appeal
George Savvides, managing director, Medibank Private
Luke Sayers, CEO, PwC Australia
Stephen Sewell, CEO, Federation Centres
Ian Silk, CEO, Australian Super
Andrew Thorburn, CEO, NAB
Last week we published an article which raised a relevant point: where are the women champions of change? And, most importantly, how can you become one?