A new national report reveals that gender-balanced leadership can lift company value and retention, but resignations risk reversing progress on workplace equality.
Australian companies with gender-balanced leadership teams are outperforming their peers on value and resilience, yet women continue to leave key industries faster than men, threatening the nation’s progress towards workplace equality.
A new report from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) found that executive teams with gender balance — at least 40 per cent women, 40 per cent men and up to 20 per cent of any gender — have company values around seven per cent higher than less balanced peers.
For a $1 billion ASX-listed company, that equates to an average uplift of $93 million.
WGEA chief executive Mary Wooldridge said the evidence was “clear that gender-balanced leadership teams don’t just support women, they also deliver stronger results by fostering better decision-making, innovation and capacity to navigate challenges”.
“This research points to the benefits that flow to those employers that choose to embed gender equality into their business strategies,” she said.
“By digging into the data and developing an approach that’s tailored to their specific workforce needs, employers can build a strong pipeline of talented leaders and help safeguard the long-term sustainability of their organisation.”
The tenth edition of the BCEC–WGEA series marks a decade of tracking gender equality across Australian workplaces.
While transparency reforms and public reporting have lifted accountability, the data show only 27 per cent of organisations are gender-balanced overall.
Women now hold nearly 40 per cent of board seats across ASX-listed companies, but only one in four employers report gender-balanced leadership teams — a figure that has barely shifted in five years.
BCEC director and report author Professor Alan Duncan said the findings illustrated both “progress and fragility” in the national gender equity landscape.
“Gender balance is not just a fairness issue, it’s a sound financial strategy,” he said.
“Organisations that invest in equity strategies not only close pay gaps, they also build stronger, more resilient workforces.”
“By contrast, those that fail to act will continue to lose talent, eroding leadership pipelines.”
The report highlights rising female resignation rates in sectors such as health, retail and agriculture, ultimately undermining equity gains from recruitment and promotion.
Mr Duncan said higher attrition among women was now “the strongest factor impeding progress towards gender balance”.
The BCEC–WGEA analysis, based on data from more than 5.1 million employees, identifies practical levers to accelerate Australia’s gender equity.
Based on the latest findings, it urges employers to track resignation patterns by gender, set measurable equity targets and redesign pathways for both women entering male-dominated fields and men entering female-dominated ones.
Despite growing awareness, structural segregation continues to drive a national pay gap of 21.7 per cent.
More than half of occupations now report like-for-like pay differences within ±5 per cent, suggesting inequity is more about who holds which jobs, rather than how they are paid.
“Gender equity and business performance go hand-in-hand,” Mr Duncan said.
“Employers who take deliberate action will not only retain women and strengthen leadership pipelines, they will also secure long-term value, innovation and competitiveness.”
