South Australia’s City of Onkaparinga has been recognised nationally for its culture of championing opportunities for its female employees. In September, Council was announced as the joint winner with the City of Playford in the Increasing Women’s Participation category of the 2008 National Awards for Local Government.
Onkaparinga’s award winning entry highlights Council’s commitment to equal opportunity for all employees, where proactive strategies ensure women are able to reach their full potential within the organisation.
City of Onkaparinga CEO, Jeff Tate, said the accolade recognises what is the norm for the organisation and not a special project.
“Supporting the advancement of women is integrated into the way we do business on a daily basis,” he said. “With over 600 employees, some 47 per cent of staff are female, and are represented at both a management level and in non traditional roles. This is almost twice the rate of most other councils in Australia.
“Through a holistic approach, we have put policies in place to deal with some of the issues that can affect women’s workforce participation.”
Policies include targeted training and development opportunities, flexible leave and job sharing arrangements.
“More broadly, we have developed a culture that reflects our principle of appointing the most competent person,” Jeff Tate said. “This win shows that Onkaparinga Council is an organisation that lives and breathes equity and diversity rather than just talking about it.”
Jeff Tate said it was pleasing to see that both category
winners are from South Australia, showing the value the State places on the contributions of women in Local Government.
The City of Playford’s entry focused on the Northern Local Government Emerging Women’s Leadership Symposium, which it hosted last February.
The symposium gave women in Local Government the opportunity to focus on setting career priorities and goals, management of their professional image, effective mentoring and coaching and an ‘on the couch’ question and answer session with guest speakers.
For further information contact Jeff Tate on (08) 8384 0550.
