Contact: Vessa Playfair
Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications
Mobile: 0419 26 7676
Tel: 02  9322 7576

Professional services firm Deloitte has been recognised today as Australia’s Leading Organisation for the Advancement of Women (500+ employees) by the Federal Government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA).

Giam Swiegers, CEO, Deloitte Australia said: “At Deloitte we have always believed in the critical importance of recruiting and retaining talented women. We have sought an active role in the setting of new standards for women’s leadership and development in corporate Australia and internationally. Our program is therefore not a one-off project but a firm wide objective which makes simple business sense.

“We are proud of the fact that the judges referred to our ‘innovative approach’. At Deloitte we encourage innovation in everything we do.

“We are truly delighted to win this award as it recognises our aim is to celebrate differences in our people at all times and empower them to challenge, change and improve the way we work. Our program is not about experimenting with the latest fad but is about sustained performance.”

"At the same time I know we still have a long way to go before we achieve our goals - which importantly include having more women in senior leadership roles."

Over the past eight years Deloitte has implemented various successful programs and initiatives to recognise and advance talented women in the organisation. Our flagship program, The Inspiring Women Initiative was launched in 2004.

This program is not about increasing the number of women that are recruited but is a planned program that focuses on supporting and developing women across the entire span of their career, responding to the real issues they face in building a successful business career.

Margaret Dreyer, the Lead Partner for Deloitte Australia’s Inspiring Women program and a Deloitte Australia board member said: “Inspiring Women has developed many of our talented women across the firm. It has encouraged them to have confidence in their abilities knowing that there is both support and opportunities to help them succeed in building their leadership careers within Deloitte.

“We have achieved some key successes including a higher percentage of female partners and directors as well as a significant increase in women returning to Deloitte after maternity leave.”

Giam Swiegers
CEO
Deloitte
Tel: 02 9322 7635

Margaret Dreyer
Partner
Deloitte
Tel: 02 9322 5115