The Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Annual Report is prepared by the Office for Women each year, and outlines performance against the Australian Government’s targets for gender balance on Australian Government boards. These targets are:

• Women should hold 50 per cent of Australian Government board positions overall.
• Women should hold at least 40 per cent of positions on Australian Government boards at the individual board level.

These targets were introduced on 1 July 2016, replacing the previous gender diversity target for women to hold 40 per cent of Australian Government board positions overall. However, until 2022-23, data was only collected for the 50 per cent target.

In the 2022-2023 financial year, the Australian Government continued to meet the target of women holding 50 per cent of overall reportable positions on Government boards. As at 30 June 2023, women held 51.6 per cent of reportable Australian Government board positions, the highest rate of representation on record.

Women also received a majority, with 52.9 per cent, of new appointments to Australian Government boards in 2022-2023.

The 2022-2023 Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Annual Report is the first time that Government is able to report on the representation of women at the individual board level. The data collected throughout the 2022-2023 financial year showed that 78.7 per cent of boards have women represented in at least 40 per cent of reportable positions.