AGL Energy Limited (AGL) has been recognised as one of the inaugural recipients of the prestigious Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation, awarded by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

The new citation supersedes the Employer of Choice for Women citation, which AGL has held since 2012. The new citation reflects the change in focus of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 to promote and improve gender equality outcomes for both women and men, while recognising the historically disadvantaged position of women in the workplace.

AGL Managing Director and CEO, Michael Fraser, said AGL has maintained a strong focus on gender equality as part of our Diversity & Inclusion Strategy since it was adopted in 2010.

“We have Board-approved, public and measurable gender diversity objectives in place that focus our energies and programs. AGL monitors gender diversity at each level of the organisation, in particular the representation of women in leadership,” said Mr Fraser.

“Specifically, we have as a key objective to increase the representation of women in our senior leadership pipeline which can be challenging given the fact that many of the roles that offer the critical experiences and career pathways for future leaders of energy companies are non-traditional occupations for women. This is one of challenges that we are seeking to address through the implementation of our Diversity and Inclusion strategy.

“Our continuing focus on gender equality is even more critical following the recent acquisition of two major electricity generators, AGL Loy Yang and AGL Macquarie in recent years. Adding these assets to our portfolio reduced our overall proportion of females in our employee base by more than 16 percent.”

AGL’s 2016 target is to have 50 percent of senior leadership appointments being women. As at June this year, women made up 36 percent of AGL’s workforce, 36 percent of all leaders, and 33 percent of our senior leadership pipeline.

“Every member of the executive team is a strong supporter of this objective and each executive carries a gender target which seeks to increase the number of women appointed into our senior leadership pipeline,” said Mr Fraser. 

AGL has also initiated industry-leading policies that provide flexibility and support for female and male employees - including flexible work arrangements, paid parental leave, purchased leave, career breaks and carers’ leave. These policies together with initiatives such as “The Working Parents Program” have contributed to improved return rates for women from parental leave, lifting from 63 percent in 2011 to 96 percent currently.

About AGL

AGL is one of Australia's leading integrated energy companies and largest ASX listed owner, operator and developer of renewable energy generation in the country. Drawing on over 175 years of experience, AGL operates retail and merchant energy businesses, power generation assets and an upstream gas portfolio. AGL has one of Australia's largest retail energy and dual fuel customer bases. AGL has a diverse power generation portfolio including base, peaking and intermediate generation plants, spread across traditional thermal generation as well as renewable sources including hydro, wind, landfill gas and biomass. AGL is taking action toward creating a sustainable energy future for our investors, communities and customers.

About the Workplace Gender Equality Agency

WGEA is an Australian Government statutory agency responsible for promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces and is responsible for administering the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Act).