Gender equality in action – flexible working arrangements support personal commitments

Support for flexible work arrangements – including for those with family and caring responsibilities – is part of our Gender Equality Action Plan and commitment to creating a more equitable workplace.

Civil Justice, Access and Equity Executive Director Rowan McRae says supporting flexible working arrangements is about valuing the different things people are committed to outside work.

‘That's not just going to be children, that's going to be a whole range of other commitments and interests that staff will have.

‘And that means that flexible work allows them to have a more balanced and happier life.’

Rowan and Executive Assistant Shannon Clifford both use flexible working arrangements, by working compressed hours.

For Shannon, this means working a bit longer each day, to have a shorter day on Fridays. This enables her to do tutoring and attend speech therapy and hospital appointments for her children.

Shannon says having this flexibility has made a huge impact on her life.

‘I have a toddler with hearing loss and my daughter has dyslexia and ADHD.

‘I have my own health issues, including epilepsy and I had serious surgery which caused something called aphasia.

‘So flexible for me means that I can attend to all the appointments outside of work.’

Rowan works 0.9 FTE in compressed hours over four days, and doesn’t work on Fridays. She says having flexibility was an important aspect for her in taking on an executive role.

‘I’ve got 9-year-old twins and they’ve grown up with me in this role.

‘When I stepped into the executive role, quite a few people came up to me and said “oh, it's just really great to see that it's possible to get those roles and still be part-time and have small kids and manage that”.’

Working flexibly has also enabled both Shannon and Rowan to embrace career opportunities. Shannon has taken on a number of secondments, as well as co-chairing our Disability Employee Network.

Rowan says it has enabled her to advance her career to an executive level.

‘I wouldn’t have taken it on if it was full-time and not flexible.’

‘By being more flexible and opening up to part-time, we actually have a much bigger talent pool of people who are really committed to the work we're doing and have a big contribution to make.’

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