MEDIA RELEASE

ACS Adelaide hosts ‘The Power and Promise of Female Leadership’

Adelaide, 16 September, 2016: The ACS, the professional association for Australia’s ICT sector, will host a Leaders Lunch in Adelaide focused on strengthening support for female leadership within business and government. Featuring Tara Wisniewski, Managing Director Advocacy and Public Affairs for ISACA, a leading global professional development association, “The Power and Promise of Female Leadership” luncheon takes place at Peppers Waymouth Hotel on Friday 16 September commencing 12pm.

The luncheon will include a keynote and discussion led by Ms Wisniewski who will share her strategies on how organisations can build programming to support the professional growth of women and female leadership across not just in the ICT sector, but across all sectors and industries.

Guests will include South Australian State Government Ministers, along with senior executives, and a range of enterprise and government organisations.

Commenting on the event, Chair of ACS SA Branch Executive Committee, Jo Stewart-Rattray, said the ACS is passionate about supporting a digitally skilled and diverse ICT workforce. Ms Stewart-Rattray referred to the ACS’ recent report titled, The Promise of Diversity - Gender Equality in the ICT Profession, which outlined a series of recommendations to increase the participation of women in the ICT profession. 

“From our research we found, women represent only 28 per cent of the ICT workforce as compared to 43 per cent in the wider professional workforce. This underutilisation of human capital in ICT looms as a major constraint on Australia’s national growth. But this situation is not unique to Australia - it is an international problem that must be addressed as such if we are to succeed in making real change,” Ms Stewart-Rattray said.

Further to this, research by the Grattan Institute suggests that if Australia was to lift its female labour participation rate by six per cent to be roughly comparable to Canada, Australia’s GDP would be $25 billion higher. Analysis by Goldman Sachs suggests that closing the equity gap could boost the level of Australian GDP by 11 per cent.

Ms Stewart-Rattray continued: “A coalition between key stakeholders from the industry, the profession, educators, employers, career advisors, parents, and our government decision makers is crucial to the success of this endeavour. If we actually want innovation and creativity, it’s up to all of us to contribute to make the difference and ‘The Power and Promise of Female Leadership’ Leaders Lunch is bringing this conversation to the ears of people who can make a real difference.”

Event details:

What:              ACS’Leaders Lunch - The Power and Promise of Female Leadership

When:              Friday 16 September, 12 noon

Venue:             Peppers Waymouth Hotel, 55 Waymouth Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Who:                Tara Wisniewski, Managing Director Advocacy and Public Affairs for ISACA

                             Ministers attending include:

                         Katrine Hildyard MP, Member for Reynell (representing the Premier)

                         Nat Cook MP, Member for Fisher

                         Chris Picton MP, Member for Kaurna 

                         Corey Wingard MP, Member for Mitchell

                         David Pisoni MP, Member for Unley

                         Kelly Vincent MLC, Dignity for the Disabled

-ENDS-

Further information

Thomas Shanahan, ACS, 0449 902 130 

Louise Proctor, Launch Group, 0452 574 244 louise@launchgroup.com.au

Sarah Jane Williams, Launch Group, 0409 362 675, sarahjane@launchgroup.com.au

About the ACS

The ACS is the professional association for Australia's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Over 20,000 ACS members work in business, education, government and the community. The ACS exists to create the environment and provide the opportunities for members and partners to succeed. The ACS strives for ICT professionals to be recognised as drivers of innovation in our society, relevant across all sectors, and to promote the formulation of effective policies on ICT and related matters. Visit www.acs.org.au for more information.

About Tara Wisniewski

As ISACA’s Managing Director, Advocacy and Public Affairs, Tara Wisniewski leads a wide portfolio of activities aimed at increasing ISACA’s impact and influence globally. Her portfolio focuses on ISACA’s engagement with its stakeholders and key constituencies and includes leading ISACA’s partnership with its 213 chapters, building a public affairs effort focused on government relations and strategic partnerships and engagement programs focused on building broader engagement platforms for women, students and ISACA’s volunteers. Tara has nearly 20 years of experience in global affairs, external affairs and corporate activities in non-profit institutions and professional associations. Her experience includes fundraising, advocacy, government relations, strategic partnerships, volunteer engagement, program development and building and managing teams around the globe. Tara has a B.A. from Tulane University and a M.A. from Rutgers University.