Business · Companies · 4 hrs ago
Flexible management roles could help retain women leaders in Australia
Research by Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency and Curtin University found that women are reaching senior positions but are more likely than men to leave management roles.
Women in management resigned at a rate of 13.8%, compared with 12% for men.
The agency says women earn an average of 79 cents for every dollar men earn, and their departure from senior roles contributes to the gap.
Caring responsibilities and limited access to flexible work can make it harder for women to stay in leadership.
Only 13.2% of organisations designed management jobs for part-time work, while employers with flexible-work strategies tended to have more women in senior management.
The agency recommends options such as part-time leadership roles, job-sharing and schedules that fit school drop-offs and pickups.
It also says employers can support parents’ career progression, though the research does not set out a specific next step.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency says more flexible management roles, including part-time positions and co-CEOs, could help retain women leaders and narrow Australia’s gender pay gap.
WGEA and Curtin University research found women reaching senior positions were more likely than men to leave.
Women earn an average of 79 cents for every dollar men earn, according to WGEA.
Women were promoted to management slightly less often than men, and women in management were more likely to resign.
The agency urged employers to make management roles more flexible and help parents remain on career-progression paths.
- Who
- The Workplace Gender Equality Agency and Curtin University conducted the research. The report’s recommendations concern employers and women in leadership.
- What
- The report says flexible management arrangements, including part-time roles and co-CEOs, could help retain women and narrow the gender pay gap.
- When
- The research was reported on Tuesday; the article was published on 12 October 2026.
- Where
- Australia.
- Why
- Women in management were more likely to resign than men, and uneven caring responsibilities and a lack of flexible work options can make it harder for women to remain in senior roles.
WGEA and Curtin University
Pauline Hanson
Cause of the gender pay gap
WGEA and Curtin University
The report says women’s departures from senior roles and unequal care responsibilities contribute to the gap.
Pauline Hanson
Hanson has said the gap is due to women taking time off.
Employers’ role
WGEA and Curtin University
WGEA says employers can use flexible management roles and other measures to help women stay on career paths.
Pauline Hanson
Hanson says employers should not have to pay for parental leave.
There is very much an embedded idea that management roles can never be part-time, and probably what flows from that is most flexible arrangements don’t apply to management roles
We’re seeing increasingly the use of – even at the CEO level – co-CEOs, who are essentially job sharing a role.
Employers cannot determine how care is divided at home, but they can help make sure that becoming a parent does not mean stepping off the path to career progression
We have made really good progress over the last 40 years or so in this context, but now there is a narrative that seems to be pulling that progress backwards, at least in a narrative sense.
WGEA data showed full-time women were promoted more often than men, while men were slightly more likely to be promoted to management.
Women made up 80% of people taking primary carer parental leave.
WGEA and Curtin University research found women in senior positions were more likely to leave than men.
- Average gender pay gap
- Women earn $0.79 for every $1 men earn
- Management resignations
- 13.8% of women in management resigned, compared with 12% of men
- Part-time management roles
- 13.2% of organisations designed management roles for part-time work
- Health care and social assistance
- Women were three-quarters of the workforce but about half of CEO positions
- Company leadership
- Women held one in five board chair or chief executive positions in Australian companies
- Employer parental-leave funding
- 33% of employers were not funding additional paid parental leave
Sources
Related news
Treasury Wine sells Rosemount label back to the Oatley family
Adidas sues Australian fashion label White Fox over four-stripe clothing design
Firmus scraps planned Australian IPO as investors question its valuation
Cheaper electric vehicles help curb inflation pressures in Australia
Jeweller outsourced making after years of exhausting work
Rent platforms replace card surcharges with fees and paid memberships
McKinsey removes Australian partner from research leadership role
Sydney trader wins unfair dismissal case after hiding Singapore location
Australian shares rise as banks and miners rally
Board approves BGRE’s $250m plans for an EQ office building
Business News AU page lists an At Close of Business podcast for October 12
