GENDER EQUALITY

CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDIES     |     RESOURCES    |    MEDIA

The retail industry needs leaders in positions of power to come together to lead tangible and sustainable change in improving gender equality across the retail sector in Australia.  

In 2022, the ARA partnered with Deloitte for the inaugural Gender Equality Symposium. This event brought together Senior Executive and Board members from the ARA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee to share insights on how their organisation is advancing gender equality.  

The below case studies demonstrate the positive role that some of our members have already taken to establish a solid foundation for great things to come. 

Mainstreaming flexible working

Cotton On Group: Case Study

At the Cotton On Group, we take a values-driven approach – putting our People First, always. We’ve identified that we’re a workforce made up of 80% of team members who identify as female, and we know that when we support our people in all aspects of their lives they will thrive, evoking high engagement & performance.

Kmart: Case Study

Kmart’s mission is to make “everyday living brighter” for our customers and learn from a team member perspective to make sure Kmart is “A great place to work and grow together”. Achieving gender balance is both aligned with and contributes to achieving both objectives.

MECCA: Case Study

MECCA introduced continuation of superannuation in 2019 to address the growing super gap in Australia. Our policy is to pay team members who have been with the business for more than 18 months up to 52 weeks of superannuation.

Applying a gender equality lens

7 Eleven: Case Study

A key element to our transformation to agile ways of working at 7-Eleven was redefining how we value and reward work and the contribution our people make.

THE ICONIC: Case Study

Our partnership with Mentor Walks is anchored around having mentoring accessible for our female Senior Leaders and mentors from a diverse background. The initiative launched in March and was made available to 21 leaders within THE ICONIC.

Australia Post: Case Study

This program is designed to deeply understand the experiences of women in our operations (deliveries) network and seek opportunities and gaps where we can develop a more inclusive culture, with a longer term outcome of increasing the representation of women across all levels of our network.

Kmart: Case Study

Kmart’s mission is to make “everyday living brighter” for our customers and learn from a team member perspective to make sure Kmart is “A great place to work and grow together”. Achieving gender balance is both aligned with and contributes to achieving both objectives.

Recruiting, engaging and retaining great talent

THE ICONIC: Case Study

Our partnership with Mentor Walks is anchored around having mentoring accessible for our female Senior Leaders and mentors from a diverse background. The initiative launched in March and was made available to 21 leaders within THE ICONIC.

Kmart: Case Study

Kmart’s mission is to make “everyday living brighter” for our customers and learn from a team member perspective to make sure Kmart is “A great place to work and grow together”. Achieving gender balance is both aligned with and contributes to achieving both objectives.

Preventing sexual harassment and discrimination

Kmart: Case Study

Kmart’s mission is to make “everyday living brighter” for our customers and learn from a team member perspective to make sure Kmart is “A great place to work and grow together”. Achieving gender balance is both aligned with and contributes to achieving both objectives.

Gender Equality Symposium

The ARA | Deloitte Gender Equality Symposium on 2 June 2022 was equally challenging and inspiring. As leaders, we have the opportunity to step up to this challenge to better our sector and our community.

Deloitte have been leaders and fierce advocates for gender equality, and we are grateful for their continued partnership in enabling this event to occur.

With special thanks to David Leser and Natasha Stott Despoja, along with all our panellists, for your stewardship and sharing of insights.

Together, let’s accelerate meaningful change.

“The issue of gender equality is not women’s business, it’s everyone’s business, and for the retail sector, it’s actually good business. Right down to simple measures like profit and loss.”

Natasha Stott Despoja AOUN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), author, advocate and diplomat

“We all know that women are fundamental to the success of Australian retail. They contribute around 75% of consumer discretionary spending and make up 57% of the retail workforce. However, despite this, women only occupy 27% of board positions with Australian retailers and just 17% of our sector is led by female CEOs, which are pretty disappointing statistics. ”

Paul ZahraCEO, Australian Retailers Association

“Retail is listening and they’re acting, this a collective response of retailers coming together in a combined effort to elevate gender equality in Australia. This is just the beginning and I hope other industries look at what retail is doing, and start taking action as well.”

Elise Sharpley Partner, Consulting, Deloitte