Equal Employment Opportunity Annual Report – 1996 Evaluation of the Program

Key Indicators

The data and analysis set out below, together with statistics in Appendices 4 and 5, provide a measure of progress of the four designated EEO groups within the Bank, and a benchmark for appropriate future action.

Women

  • Women represent 43% of the Bank's staff. 59% of women, compared with only 35% of men, are under the age of 35.
  • Since 1991, the share of women in supervisory/management positions has increased. At that time, 90% of female salaried staff were L3 and below – now 19% of salaried female staff are in L4 and above positions. The proportion of women in management positions (Level 5 and above) has increased from 8% to 15% over these five years. The Bank continues to investigate strategies to increase the proportion of women in management positions.
Graph Showing Age Distribution of Staff
  • The number of clerical support positions in the Bank has halved since 1991, but of those remaining, 75% are occupied by women. This is a significant decline from 1991 when 87% were filled by women.
  • Since 1991, female staff in the Bank have decreased by 31% and males by 16%. This year 209 staff left the Bank of which 54% were women. Where possible, exit interviews were conducted with departing staff and analysed by location, gender and employment level. The main reason for leaving related to career progression.

People from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds

  • The representation of people from non-English speaking backgrounds has remained steady at around 23% of staff overall.

People with Disabilities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

  • The representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and people with disabilities increased slightly this year. The Bank's reported representation of people with disabilities could be an under – estimate because staff who have acquired disabilities since the 1987 EEO Staff Survey are not identified in the database.

Staff Selection

  • Recruitment was at a similar level to last year. Of the 194 staff recruited as trainees, graduates or other staff, 49% were women, 27% were from non-English speaking backgrounds, 2% were people with disabilities and 1% were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. These figures provide a comparative benchmark for the coming year's recruitment drive.
  • In 1995/96, women represented 37% of applicants for graduate positions and 30% of the actual intake. This is a decline on last year. An investigation of lower female representation in graduate level entry is to be conducted.
  • Promotions declined slightly this year due largely to the absence of any major Bank restructuring. Overall the promotion rate was 8% for both men and women.
  • 68% of promotion selection panels had a female member and 17% were chaired by a woman. Half of the staff trained in selection panel procedures during the year were women.

Career Development & Staff Training

  • Approximately 50% of most EEO groups attended some internal training during the year, a similar rate to staff generally. The rates for attendance at external training were lower: around 29% for women compared to 43% for men. The Bank will continue to monitor training attendance statistics to help ensure that the EEO designated groups are given the opportunity to increase their skills.
  • Just under half of the staff receiving study assistance during the year were women. Of total Bank staff, 14% of men undertook assisted study compared to 9% of women. Nine employees, including three women, undertook full-time post-graduate study with Bank support during the year.
Graph Showing Study Assistance – Men
Graph Showing Study Assistance – Women
  • The management and supervision courses run during the year had equal participation by men and women. Although female participation at the leadership course was lower, women participated in the Springboard Program during the year. Two senior women in the Bank were mentors for this program.
  • Four women were seconded during the year to overseas organisations and six attended overseas conferences.
  • There were 75 transfers of Level 2 to 7 staff during the year. Of these, 28% were women and 72% were men. The overall transfer rate was 5% for women and 11% for men. The reasons for this difference will be explored further in the coming year.

Conditions of Employment

  • 107 women (16.6% of female staff) used parental leave and/or part-time work contiguous with parental leave during the year; 3.6% of men took paid parental leave.
  • The number of resignations by women following parental leave was lower this year: 76% of women returned to work after parental leave, compared to 53% last year. Almost 40% returned on a full-time basis compared with 19% last year.
Graph Showing Women Completing Parental Leave
  • Of the 27% of staff taking carer's leave during the year, just under half were women. The average number of days was 2.4.

Note Printing Australia

At NPA, the evaluation of progress with EEO continues to be constrained by a general lack of turnover within the organisation, a consequent low level of external recruitment and few promotional opportunities. As a result, there has been little perceptible change recently in the EEO employment profile of NPA staff.