WORK180’s International Women’s Day Summit 2024 wrap-up

Too often, International Women’s Day events face scrutiny and skepticism about the sincerity of these observances. And too often, these concerns are valid.

Companies share plates of pretty pink and purple cupcakes while their gender pay gap widens in an ever-expanding gulf between promise and practice.

But against this backdrop of corporate calendar checkboxes, WORK180’s 2024 International Women’s Day Summit (8th March) stood out as a beacon of authenticity. Far from token gestures, it was a celebration of real change and the champions driving it forward.

These change-champions were celebrated with our second annual Equitable Workplace Awards. More on those soon.

The Summit was also an amazing opportunity for us to gather a panel of leaders, changemakers, and advocates who were all happy to share the challenges and obstacles they’ve overcome in driving equity in the workplace to an eager and engaged audience of over 300 guests.

Our co-founder and CEO, Gemma Lloyd also reminded us in her opening address, that the day wasn’t just for looking back and resting on the successes of the past.

“It has been crucial for us to host an event that not just celebrates women and progress but also provides practical and tangible takeaways for everyone to continue to create a world where everyone has equal opportunity, equal representation, and equal pay.”

So, grab a pen and paper, or get those copy-paste buttons ready as we journey through the highlights of the day, the award winners, and the take-away lessons shared.

1. The feedback so far
2. A big thank-you to our keynote speaker
3. A round of applause for our panelists
4. The Equitable Workplace Award winners
5. Our sponsors

The feedback so far…

We can use all the pretty words we like to tell you how fabulous this event was, but we thought this time, we’d leave the endorsing to others to share:

A big thank-you to our keynote speaker

Debbie Lee is all-too familiar with facing challenges. With more than 30 years of experience in women’s football, she has broken down huge multi-generational gender walls in the world of sport.

Debbie is currently the National Women and Girl’s Action Plan Lead at the AFL and has previously held a position as the General Manager of Women’s Football at both the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne Football Club. She also served eight years as President of the Victorian Women’s Football League and established the first women’s football team in the West in 1993.

For recognition of her efforts and contribution to women’s football both on and off the field, Debbie was awarded an AFL Life Membership and, more recently, was the first woman to be inducted into the AFL’s Hall of Fame.

Through her address, she wielded her experiences to deftly illustrate not only the distance we’ve travelled so far, but the hope she sees for the future, and how any individual in the room can play their part to grow that future.

“What I went through was uncomfortable. But it galvanized me. It made me who I am today. And it wasn’t all doom and gloom. I had a great time. Sure, I never got to play AFLW, but what I and those who came on the journey with me did was plant the seeds for others to sit under.”

Indeed, while Debbie shared many lessons and learnings with a crisp authenticity all in the room were moved by, this quote of planting seeds for the future was one that particularly resonated throughout the day.

“Plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson

Rentokil Initial service over 300,000 washrooms across Australia doing the sometimes-invisible work that is essential to protecting people, enhancing lives, and preserving our planet. And in her eye-opening and thought-provoking address, Karen shared some of their fantastic work around washroom dignity in the workplace. 

Washroom dignity being when employers provide free period and/or incontinence care solutions in the workplace washroom. And as Karen shared, the provision of this dignity is far from where we would hope it to be in 2024. 

Here are some of the statistics she shared:

• Almost two-thirds of young women are struggling to afford period products. 
• Less than 5% of Australian companies invest in incontinence or period amenities in their workplaces. 
• Yet, 57% of employees felt that the provision of period and incontinence amenities in the workplace washroom was “the right thing to do”. 
• Especially when 67% of working women don’t have the opportunity to work from home. 
• And it’s not just a “women’s issue”, 17% of men have taken a sick day because they weren’t confident their workplace had the necessary amenities.

The resounding conclusion was that all employees need to feel safe and included whilst at their place of work! 

And it was a message many in the audience were eager to champion too. More than one attendee was heard whispering and taking notes that washroom dignity would be the first item on their to-do list come Monday when they returned to work. 

Our last speaker for the day took us on a journey back to our childhoods, to reminisce on who, where, and how we spent our school holidays. 

These formative memories drove a fantastic conversation around the work KidsCo do to help working parents thrive, not just survive school holidays with their own children. All thanks to the award-winning programs they offer to organizations that are dedicated to supporting the carers in their business.

A round of applause for our panelists

Each of our guest speakers work at one of our Endorsed Employers that have made particularly exceptional strides in supporting and elevating women over the last year.

There was some fabulous discussion around topics like how employers are stepping up to invest in better workplaces for women, creating transparency and embedding accountability, and the recent pay gap legislation in Australia.

Some of our favorite quotes and stories from the session:

“It was very tempting to go for a million things and do them half well. So, it took some discipline around the areas of progress. The two main pillars of [Clemenger Group’s] approach have been around representation of women in our senior leadership positions from the board down. And creating a pipeline of female leaders throughout our organization.”

– Raj Tapper | Chief People Officer, Clemenger Group

“We’ve got really great policies in place as frameworks, but it’s about cultivating that culture that enables it to come to life. Lots of organizations have fabulous parental leave policies, but then internally it’s actually frowned upon, particularly for males, to take them. So, it’s really important we do have the right culture.”

– Marnie Dalton | Director, Dalton Consulting Engineers

“We’ve been working to encourage other women to see engineering as a bit more than just ‘out in the field building a bridge’ but as a career path that could see you solving climate change or finding the opportunities for the future of artificial intelligence.”

– Alana Newbrook | Chief Executive Officer, Systra ANZ

“I was so embarrassed at one point when I had to tell someone visiting our office that we did not have any breast pumping facilities. I was so embarrassed to tell her no, that I marched straight to arrange the transformation of one of our offices into a fully-functioning, sound-proof, lockable, dedicated breast pumping room. And that was done not just in this office, but in all our offices. And it’s now something that we tell our clients to do as well, to demonstrate it’s not just tick a box. It’s not just a nice-to have. We are genuinely investing in helping women return back to the workplace.”

– Sarah Novelli | Executive Director – People & Culture, BGIS

And the 2024 Equitable Workplace Award winners are…

For our Equitable Workplace Awards, we scored each of our Endorsed Employers across our ten workplace standards to find the companies leading the way and taking these standards to the next level. 

Each category below represents one of the standards, and we have awarded two winners for most categories: a small-medium size business award, and an enterprise award.

Inclusive hiring practices

We champion the importance of fair and transparent hiring processes that empower women of all backgrounds and experiences to apply and know they will be genuinely considered. 

Representative leadership

While achieving diversity will have a positive impact at any level, an increased focus on achieving diversity in leadership will have the greatest impact, in both the short and long term. 

Flexible working arrangements

From remote work to adjusted hours, flexibility is one of the most powerful ways in which companies can help every employee overcome workplace barriers and thrive.

Pay equity

While equal pay for equal value of work is a legal requirement, unequal access to opportunities continues to result in pay gaps between genders, races, and ethnicities. Due to the intersection of systemic discrimination, these pay gaps are combined and compounded for women from underrepresented groups.

Shared caring responsibilities

Creating a culture that promotes and supports equal and shared responsibility for parents and carers — regardless of gender — is critical to enabling women to thrive in the workplace.

Employee voice and ERGs

Employee voice is a key part of building an equitable and inclusive organization. This means creating a culture that empowers employees, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to share their experiences, insights, and ideas.

Career development

To address the current underrepresentation of women in leadership and in certain industries, companies can’t afford to just focus on hiring alone. It is equally important to nurture and retain the women within their organizations through career development support that builds confidence, skills, networks, and direction.

Inclusive and anti-discriminatory behaviors

This involves removing any social, physical, or mental barriers that may prevent individuals from feeling safe, comfortable, confident, or able to fully contribute in the workplace. 

Employee support and safety services

From domestic and family violence to ageism and ableism, women and underrepresented groups often face a multitude of barriers to the workplace. We encourage employers to recognize the role they must play in the systemic removal of such barriers while offering robust (often external) support for those impacted.

Strategic commitments

Whether it’s at the board, shareholder, or C-suite level, formalizing a company’s ambition to build and maintain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization through strategic commitments can be one of the most important drivers of positive change. 

New awards this year

This year we have added a few new awards, to recognize not only the industry leaders, but also the overall top performer, and most improved.

Thanks to our sponsors, they weren’t the only winners on the day

In truth, we hope everyone who came on the day felt like a winner and was able to leave with at least one actionable tip to implement and catalyze change toward a more gender-equal future.

But there were a few attendees who left with a little bit more. 

We had four amazing prizes to give away thanks to our generous sponsors below:

Rentokil Initial

Besides the amazing address given by Karen Kavanagh, Rentokil also provided our first door prize of a $500 Red Balloon experience voucher. 

Indeed

Indeed’s recent wellness report found that a quarter (25%) of workers in Australia describe their work-life balance as average or poor. To help create a more balanced work-life this year, they put together a balance hamper designed to help the winner switch off and focus on what matters most. 

Menopause Friendly Australia

Menopause Friendly Australia make it easy for workplaces to support people through menopause. One lucky attendee won a one-year membership for their organization, valued at over $6,000. This membership provides access to Menopause Friendly’s award-winning resources, webinars, membership community, and online consultancy, enabling evidence-based menopause support for their team. 

KidsCo

KidsCo, where work meets life in perfect balance, presented one lucky winner with a free premium school holiday program for their organization, valued at $15,000. Led and curated by qualified school teachers, this program is designed for children aged 5-12, with STEAM-based learning and inclusive themes. The program empowers parents and carers to bring their authentic selves to work, while fostering an inclusive, productive, and engaged workplace.