Citation recognises 25 years of gender equality

Alcoa Australia has been recognised for its ongoing commitment to gender equality, receiving a respected citation from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) for the 25th consecutive year.

The achievement places Alcoa among only two organisations in Australia to reach the quarter-century milestone, recognising its commitment to creating a more inclusive workplace.

WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge said the citation provided national recognition of an organisation’s deep commitment to positive action to achieve gender equality in the workplace.

“Citation holders demonstrate strong gender-equal outcomes at the moments that matter most to women and men at work,” she said. “They go beyond policy and programs, embedding gender equality into the everyday employee experience.”

In 2025, Alcoa Australia’s gender split was on par with other resource sector companies at 22 per cent female representation overall. However, women made up 27 per cent of senior management and 37 per cent of the executive team, demonstrating positive growth in Alcoa’s leadership gender diversity.

For Alcoa Australia Financial Controller Tanya Simmonds, the numbers are less important than the evolving attitudes and approaches to equality.

“Like many women, I experienced discriminatory attitudes earlier in my career when I was up against males for a senior role,” Tanya said.

“But today if there’s a male and female up for the same job, the sort of unconscious bias that may have once led to the male being deemed the better candidate has largely disappeared.”

Tanya says the benefits of greater gender diversity are evident across the organisation today.

“Organisations are moving away from the outdated idea that seniority and wisdom come from having done the time, and that in turn is leading to more creative solutions and better outcomes,” she said. “We’re no longer doing things a certain way because that’s how they’ve always been done.”

The observation that gender diversity and organisational performance are linked is supported by ongoing research that indicates its impact on success right down to the bottom line. Global management consultancy McKinsey and Company tracked gender diversity in multiple workplaces over six years and found those with more than 30 per cent female representation in executive roles tended to have significantly higher profit margins.

According to Tanya, the impact of gender diversity is felt at all levels of the business.

“Greater diversity leads to more constructive conversations, stronger collaboration and better outcomes across all levels,” she said.