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It wasn’t until the 2012 London Games that women were allowed to compete in all the events on the Olympic program, and with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this year providing an equal number of quota places for female and male athletes, gender parity on the field of play has been achieved for the first time.<\/p>\n
In March, IOC president Thomas Bach said reaching equal gender representation was one of the most important moments in the history of women at the Olympic Games and in sport overall.<\/p>\n
But, the benefits of investing in gender equality extend far beyond the Olympic arena, Ms Hill said.<\/p>\n
“Diverse and inclusive workforces are proven to achieve increased productivity, efficiency and innovation,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Increased gender diversity on boards and in senior executive positions is strongly associated with better financial performance.”<\/p>\n
She pointed to a study, undertaken by McKinsey & Company in 2017, which found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21 per cent more likely to experience above-average profitability.<\/p>\n
By contrast, companies with a low representation of women and other diverse groups were almost 30 per cent more likely to underperform on profitability.<\/p>\n
“Strong, successful and profitable organisations translate into opportunity, job security and growth, and this is a win for the broader community,” Ms Hill said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From swimmer Kaylee McKeown’s back-to-back titles in the 100m and 200m backstroke events to BMX rider Saya Sakakibara’s emotional win after a horror crash in Tokyo, Australia’s female athletes dominated the podium at the Paris Olympics. It means Australia has walked away with its best Olympic medal tally yet, finishing fourth overall, with the country’s […]<\/p>\n