Tasmania Minister for Women Jacquie Petrusma

2018 Tasmanian Government Board Diversity Scholarships Announced

Victor P Taffa

Hodgman Government has a target of achieving 50 % representation of women across government boards and committees by 2050.

That is why we introduced our Women on Boards Strategy in July 2015, Minister for Women Jacquie Petrusma said.

“Our Women on Boards Strategy Annual Report 2017 shows that since the Strategy’s release in 2015, Tasmania has had the biggest growth of women’s representation on government boards across all states and territories, increasing from 33.8 % to 40.1 % as of September 2017.” Minister Petrusma said.

This represents an increase of around 19 % in the ratio of women board members, and an increase of 6.3 percentage points in the number of board positions held by women since 2015.

“All our GBE’s have at least 2 female directors and the overall percentage of director positions held by women is at 53%.”

“Appointment of women to State Owned Companies has also increased and the percentage of positions held by women is now at 44%. This is an increase of 13 percentage points in 2 years, which is a significant achievement. In addition, every State Owned Company board has at least 1 female director.” Minister Petrusma said.

Women on Boards Strategy also included a financial commitment of $150,000 over 3 years for a scholarship program for governance training through the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

“Today, I am pleased to announce the 2018 recipients of the Tasmanian Government Board Diversity Governance Scholarships which will provide Tasmanian women with the opportunity to learn leadership and decision making skills from trained mentors, as well as equip them with the knowledge they will need to serve as company directors or on government boards and committees.” Minister Petrusma said.

Recipients of the 4 Company Director Course Scholarships are:

• Kathryn Berry
• Alison Clark
• Mary Anne Ryan
• Judith Tudball

Recipients of the 16 Foundations of Directorship Scholarships are:

• Hanny Alston
• Kate Bonner
• Kate Burton
• Lindy Cleeland
• Angela Driver
• Hina Durani
• Kathryn Fordyce
• Sue Grau
• Rebecca Greenwood
• Marion Hale
• Laura Harper
• Lee Jefferies
• Robyn Lewis
• Lesley Mackay
• Victoria Morton
• Trisha Squires

“On behalf of the Tasmanian Government, I congratulate all the scholarship recipients and commend the AICD on its continued cooperation with us in this program.” Minister Petrusma said.

Abbreviations

(GBE’s)           Government Business Enterprises