Latest news

Sep 19, 2019
Suffrage Day 2019

Happy Suffrage Day!
New Zealand was the first country in the world to give all women the right to vote 126 years ago.

Aug 2, 2019
GWN Survey 2019 results

A survey of all GWN members was conducted in May and gives us a picture of GWN's impact. Key out-takes and a full report are now available.

Jul 25, 2019
Strategic Leadership Team appointments

The Ministry of Justice has appointed two former GWN Governance Group members to their Strategic Leadership Team. 

Jun 25, 2019
Find Employee Led Networks in your agency

The new Employee Led Networks website is better than ever with improved functionality for finding the networks of interest to you and your colleagues in public sector agencies.

See more news

About GWN

We are a professional employee-led network working to create a step change that will enable all women in the public sector to achieve their potential.

Women are the majority of the 350,000-strong public sector workforce.

Key facts: 

 

In public service departments, women are:

  • 61% of the workforce
  • 45% of senior managers (tiers 1-3)
  • 12 out of 29 chief executives
 

The numbers are improving but there are some serious challenges:

  • women earn 9.4% less than men in the June 2017 quarter, down from 12% in 2016 (Source: Statistics New Zealand)
  • the gender pay gap in some agencies is as high as 39%
  • women are still 82% of administration and clerical roles but only 33% of IT professionals
 

The statistics are worse for Māori, Pacifica and Asian women.

  • Ethnic diversity is increasing in the public service
  • Māori, Pacifica and Asian women are under-represented at all levels of management
  • Increasing ethnic representation in management requires deliberate efforts and will take time.
Find out more

Become a member

Sign up to be a member and get the benefits of connecting with women in the wider public sector 

 

Join GWN