Paul Fletcher points to women telco leaders when asked about gender disparity in tech

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy Paul Fletcher has highlighted the positions of two women technology leaders in response to a question on the closure of the Boosting Female Founders scheme (BFF).

At the TechLeaders conference in NSW’s Hunter Valley over the weekend, SmartCompany asked Minister Fletcher about the closure of the program, which was quietly terminated by Labor earlier this year, leaving millions of dollars in allocated funds unspent.

Boosting Female Founders was originally introduced by the Coalition in 2020 to help address the huge investment gap in women-led businesses in the private sector.

And it’s a gap that still firmly exists.

Cut Through Venture’s most recent funding report found investment into women-founded startups dropped to its lowest since 2019. It also found 20% of all investments went to women or mixed-gender teams, however, the majority were at the pre-seed or seed, with a median deal size of just $1.4 million.

Fletcher was asked whether the closure of programs such as BFF could affect the pipeline for attracting women into tech, including leadership positions.

“We believe that not all expertise resides in Canberra. And without really getting into the details of that particular program, what I’d say is there’s lots of good initiatives being led within the tech sector,” Minister Fletcher said on Sunday.

He then went on to point to two women in senior positions.

“I think it’s something worth celebrating, for example, that the chief executive of Telstra [is] Vicki Brady, a former colleague of mine at Optus and a constituent of mine. We’ve got a woman as chief executive of Telstra, we’ve got a woman as chair of NBN. I think it’s a good thing we’ve got a woman as communications minister at the moment,” Fletcher said.

“So I think we’ve made progress. But of course, there’s more to do.”

Two successful women in telco doesn’t fix gender equity in tech

Fletcher’s response didn’t address the broader concerns about the future of gender equity in the tech sector, particularly in the wake of the BFF program’s termination.

The program, launched in 2020 with a $52.2 million budget, aimed to support women-led startups through matched-funding grants and mentorship.

Despite its potential, the program was plagued with issues across two governments, with Labor citing a lack of measurable impact on the wider startup ecosystem for its closure.

Experts in the field argue that the closure of BFF is a significant setback for women in tech, particularly in an industry that has long struggled with gender imbalance.

While Fletcher pointed to the success of a few women in high-level positions, this does not address the systemic challenges many women face in the tech industry, including those at the startup level.

We’re also facing a period where fewer young people are enrolling in computer technology subjects.

A recent report from The Australian National University revealed a significant drop in student enrolment in information and computer technology (ICT) subjects in Years 11 and 12, leading to fewer students pursuing ICT in further education and professional careers.

According to a 2021 report from the Australian Computer Society, only 29% of the tech workforce in Australia is comprised of women.

The report also found that women are significantly underrepresented in the industry’s leadership roles, making up just 18% of CEOs and 22% of board members in tech companies.

Diving deeper, there is still the issue of the gender pay gap in Australia.

According to data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), even when women hold top-paying roles within companies, they still often earn less than their male counterparts.

The median annual salary for women is 14.5% lower than that of men, and this gap widens to 19% when bonuses and overtime are considered.

Looking at Telstra specifically, the median gender pay gap sits at 20.2%.

This disparity highlights the presence of a few women in senior positions does not equate to widespread gender equity within the industry. The broader issue of ensuring that women across all levels of tech are supported and compensated fairly remains unresolved.

The closure of the BFF program and the response from both sides of the political aisle reinforce serious concerns about the future of gender equity in Australia’s tech industry.

While a few women may rise to the top, the broader goal of increasing women’s overall participation in tech remains unmet. The loss of targeted programs like BFF only widens the gap.

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