Three law firms are among 44 private and publicly-listed companies which have voluntarily committed to a new diversity reporting framework developed by Champions for Change.
The firms are Bell Gully (whose Champion for Change is Chris Gordon), Minter Ellison Rudd Watts (Lloyd Kavanagh) and Russell McVeagh (Gary McDiarmid).
The Champions for Change are a group of New Zealand CEOs and Chairs from across the public and private sectors who have committed to raising the value of diversity and inclusiveness throughout the business community.
The reporting framework focuses on gender and ethnicity representation within the workforce and across boards, with a spotlight on leadership pipelines.
The new Diversity Reporting period runs from 1 April to 31 March and Champions for Change organisations can make use of the framework to collect, analyse and understand their diversity data.
Global Women convened the Champions for Change group in November 2015, and is a collective of influential New Zealand women leaders promoting inclusion and diversity for improved societal and economic growth.
Global Women CEO Miranda Burdon says the World Bank Women, Business and Law 2016 Report identified New Zealand as only one of 18 nations (of 173) that have no legal differences between men and women.
“New Zealand has a real chance to be a world leader in gender equality, but only if we make a meaningful commitment to lead the change,” she says.
“Currently women make up only 20% of senior management and 17% of the boards of listed companies. We have a long way to go to reach even the 30% minimum target that Australia has committed to.
“One of the ways in which we get there is reporting. Clear reporting is crucial if change is to be achieved; because what we know is that what gets measured gets done.”