Women’s representation in Australian IT slips despite sector efforts

A new report has found that overall representation of women in Australia's IT sector has declined over the past year, despite some promising signs in Digital and Project Services roles.

INDEX Consultants has released its 12th annual Gender Diversity in the Australian IT Market report, drawing on data from more than 20,000 IT professionals across 17 technology verticals to assess the progress of gender equity within the sector.

The findings indicate that while progress has been made in specific areas, broad improvements in gender diversity remain elusive. The report highlights a decrease in the overall percentage of women working in the industry, with traditional technical roles continuing to show significant gaps in representation.

Project Services growth

Project Services emerged as an area of relative improvement, recording a 4.95% rise in female participation compared to the previous year. This brought the overall representation of women in Project Services to 33.5%. The most significant gains were noted in the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, and Victoria. Despite these figures, growth has been characterised as incremental rather than transformative.

The Digital vertical displayed a similar trend, with women's participation rising to 42.35%, representing a 2.84% increase from the prior year and a 33.34% increase since 2019. This area, encompassing a wide range of roles such as Agile Business Analyst, Cloud Support Engineer, Digital Business Analyst, Implementation Manager, and Scrum Master, has benefitted from targeted hiring strategies intended to broaden the talent pool.

Recruitment insights from Clicks IT Recruitment, which operates in association with INDEX Consultants, attribute some of this expansion to more inclusive hiring practices and diversity-focused initiatives within the Digital sector.

Technical roles lagging

The report introduces a new AI & Automation vertical, which showed a first-year representation of women at 21.7%. This outcome is higher than that of other highly technical divisions like Cyber Security, where female participation stands at 12.44%, and Architecture, which recorded 11.9%. Nevertheless, the numbers in AI & Automation are still considered below expectations.

According to the report, various government-led initiatives to increase the visibility and participation of women in STEM fields are expected to drive gradual improvement in these emerging technical areas. However, INDEX Consultants' research points to ongoing gender biases that limit entry and progression for women in the most technical segments of IT.

Leadership trends

Progress in leadership was reflected in an increase in women's representation at the executive level, moving from 15.75% to 17.74% year-on-year. The report suggests this trend could eventually encourage wider acceptance of women in management and influence a more balanced gender composition across the industry hierarchy.

These findings are set against the broader context of the national workforce. According to government and Workplace Gender Equality Agency statistics, women currently make up 51% of the overall workforce, with 40% of them holding full-time roles. The disparity between these figures and those for tech-related positions underlines a persistent gap in gender diversity within IT.

Sector response

"INDEX has long championed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in IT and tech roles," said Tamara Ryf, CEO of INDEX Consultants. "We lead by example, embedding diversity into our values and operations. Diverse teams drive better business outcomes - and job seekers increasingly expect DE&I to be a core part of a company's success model. Our mission is to drive meaningful change across the tech sector."

INDEX Consultants continues to monitor the sector and advocate for increased investment in policies and practices intended to address gender imbalance, particularly in those technical roles where improvement has been slowest. The report notes that while some areas have begun to show progress, systemic challenges remain that require ongoing attention at both the organisational and sector-wide levels.