Gender equity: Networks & support

The Office for Women works to advance the Government’s commitment to achieve gender equality and improve the lives of people in Australia. The Government is committed to advancing gender equality as a national priority and is taking a whole-of-government approach.

Gender equality brings with it opportunities for women and men to thrive, making our economy stronger, more inclusive and more sustainable.

The Office for Women is dedicated to providing quality gender advice and delivering effective policies and programs for the Minister for Women and the Prime Minister.

Catalyst is a global nonprofit working with some of the world’s most powerful CEOs and leading companies to help build workplaces that work for women. Founded in 1962, Catalyst drives change with pioneering research, practical tools, and proven solutions to accelerate and advance women into leadership—because progress for women is progress for everyone.​

In 2009, after nearly five decades of focusing on women in the workplace, Catalyst committed to understanding the role that men play as critical agents of change. There were gaps in the research to understand why some men were more actively involved and others absent from conversations in the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This inquiry was the seed of our Engaging Men research project and subsequent MARC (Men Advocating Real Change) initiative.

Today, with a continued focus on groundbreaking research and leading-edge programming, MARC is recognized as a pioneer and thought leader in inspiring and equipping men to advocate for real change.

Champions of Change Coalition works with influential leaders to redefine men’s role in taking action on gender inequality. It activates peer groups of influential male leaders, supports them to step up beside women, and drives the adoption of actions across private sector and government.

Equality Rights Alliance is Australia’s largest network advocating for women’s equality, women’s leadership and recognition of women’s diversity. We bring together more than 65 organisations with an interest in advancing women’s equality. We are one of the six National Women’s Alliances funded by the Commonwealth Office for Women. Our job is to:

• reach out and listen to women across Australia,
• work with our members to build a collective voice and encourage peer development and information sharing,
• advocate to the federal government on the issues which matter to women and
• raise awareness about gender equality within government and in public

Australia’s only professional community dedicated to supporting the careers of women working across the health and medical research ecosystem. Franklin Women is a social enterprise that connects individuals and organisations committed to creating a health and medical research sector where women thrive.

Franklin Women is here to support you on this journey through our community of like-minded women working in different roles and organisations. We provide professional development opportunities for important career skills outside of the technical sciences, as well as introducing and advocating for impactful initiatives that work towards breaking down barriers and building up allies among our peers and at the organisations within which we work.

"We help women achieve their ambitions and work to create an equal world"

Lean In's mission is: "We want a world where people of every gender can pursue their dreams without bias or other barriers holding them back. Where girls grow up to be confident, resilient leaders. Where more women run companies and countries. We are driven by the belief our society and economy would be better if women and girls were valued as equal to men and boys."

Lean In Circles in organisations around the world provide a space where women can come together in small groups across roles and levels to get peer-to-peer mentorship, connect with each other, recognise and combat gender bias and build leadership skills.

The role of the National Women's Alliances is to:

Bring together women’s organisations and individuals from across Australia to share information, identify issues that affect them, and identify solutions.

Engage actively with the Australian Government on policy issues as part of a better more informed and representative dialogue between women and government.

There are six National Women’s Alliances are networks of issues-based and sector-based women’s groups each with a distinct focus and a strong capacity for networking and advocacy activities.

SAGE was launched in 2015 as a response to the Australian Higher Education and Research sectors’ need for a coordinated, national approach to improving gender equity in STEMM.

The SAGE initiative centres on three integral elements, as follows:

a) Piloting and assessing the Athena SWAN accreditation framework in Australia (focus on Bronze Institutional Award) and supporting higher education and public research institutions to engage successfully with the program.

b) Raising awareness of gender equity and diversity issues in STEMM within the research sector and more broadly within the community.

c) Collaborating with like-minded institutions to promote and support initiatives aimed at encouraging women, trans and gender diverse people to participate in STEMM to address systemic barriers to equity.

Women and Leadership Australia is the largest gender-focused leadership initiative in Australia, with its focus on developing female leaders and supporting the increased presence of women in business and community leadership roles.

The Women in Intensive Care Network (WIN) was created with the aim of addressing the gender imbalance in Australasian Intensive Care medicine through advocacy, research and providing networking opportunities for female intensive care doctors. WIN is motivated to improve the representation of women in all aspects of intensive care medicine, including clinical, academic and leadership roles.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency is an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.

The Agency is responsible for promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces. It works collaboratively with employers, providing advice, practical tools and education to help them improve their gender performance. Staff are workplace gender equality specialists and provide industry-specific advice.

UN Global Compact aims to mobilise a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders by supporting companies to:

Do business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption; and
Take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with an emphasis on collaboration and innovation.