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ASIC will set gender targets for the insolvency work it distributes, in a move welcomed by ARITA as a practical step towards improving the representation of women across Australia’s restructuring, insolvency and turnaround profession.
The commitment was announced during a regulator panel session at ARITA’s National Conference, titled Tipping the Scales: Taking action on gender imbalance, which examined how government agencies and the profession can work together to address gender imbalance, particularly at the Registered Liquidator and Registered Trustee level.
The panel was moderated by Tianne Nagy-Jones RITP, Director at Grant Thornton, and included Tim Beresford, Chief Executive and Inspector-General in Bankruptcy at AFSA; Michael Dorman, Senior Executive Leader, Companies, Registered Liquidators and Small Business at ASIC; and Ivana Griggs RITP, Senior Government Lawyer, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (FEG Recovery Program).
ARITA CEO John Melluish said ASIC’s announcement showed that practical action from regulators and government agencies can help create meaningful change.
“Gender balance has been a long-standing concern for ARITA and for many people across the restructuring, insolvency and turnaround profession,” Mr Melluish said.
“ASIC’s decision to align with AFSA’s existing 25% target for insolvency work is a tangible and welcome step. It reflects the kind of practical, profession-wide action ARITA has been advocating for through our Balance Committee and broader engagement with government agencies. We are very much hoping that the ATO will follow suit shortly.”
Through its Balance Committee, ARITA has continued to call for practical measures to improve the retention, progression and leadership opportunities for women in the profession, while maintaining the high professional standards expected of registered practitioners.
Mr Melluish said there was no single solution to the profession’s gender balance challenge, but that consistent decision-making across government, regulators and the profession would be critical to achieving sustained progress.
“This is not just about acknowledging the issue. It is about creating the conditions for lasting change, including stronger pathways for women to enter, remain and progress in the profession,” he said.
ARITA has also introduced a new CPE Access (Parental and Exceptional Circumstances) policy to support members who need to take time away from the profession and help them remain connected during and after a period of leave.
The announcement also comes as a broader gender balance working group, comprising representatives from across the restructuring, insolvency and turnaround profession, will shortly distribute a paper to government identifying practical measures to improve participation and representation across the profession.
The working group includes representatives from ARITA, AIIP, CAANZ, CPA Australia, TMA, WINA, WIRV and others.
Several participants, including Tianne Nagy-Jones RITP, Martie Tziotis RITP, Kathleen Vouris RITP and Shabnam Amirbeaggi RITP are also ARITA professional members.
OK, I’ll bite.
Here we go again. The default response from our Socialist Government and bureaucracy is to impose more rules and a quota.
Quotas, like subsidies (are you listening, Chris?) don’t work. They distort markets. They misdirect scarce resources. They need monitoring, paid for by taxes, and are inherently anti-competitive.
This stuff is High School economics.
The quota direct work to practitioners who would no doubt rightly bristle at any suggestion they didn’t win it on merit.
I have met some of the ladies referenced in this article and have the highest regard for all of them. From my observation, none need any quota to secure their next appointment and match their male peers on their own terms.
This is quite distinct from allowing more flexibility at the training phase of career building. Those measures reflect life’s reality that women have babies and men do not and so make obvious sense.
I have the greatest respect to the good people at ARITA, who I know work hard to further the Insolvency profession. However, this is a big step backwards for the many competent women among us. In my humble opinion, ARITA should have pushed back on this one, but maybe they know something I don’t.
Quotas for hairdressers and beauticians?
Women have had equal rights in Australia since the late 1970’s. That is nearly fifty years of even-standing. Same access to university, same access to healthcare and voting, same (if not more generous) access to leave and welfare. These quotas are counter-intuitive and mean-spirited. They are divisive and are dog-whistling discrimination.