Investing in the next generation of female leaders

In May 2019, Scentre Group hosted 74 girls from three Sydney high schools - Riverside Girls School, Asquith Girls High School and NBSC Mackellar Girls - as part of the Property Council of Australia’s Girls in Property program.

The program aims to encourage greater female participation in the property industry by showcasing career paths the property industry offers.

“We have been involved with the program since its inception in 2017 and see it as an important part of the work we do to continually address gender equality in our workplace, as well as in the property industry more widely,” said Karen Skinner, Regional Manager Centre Experience.

“We were one of the first two organisations to get involved in this initiative and in just a couple of years, the number of participating organisations has grown to 14.

“During 2018, 43 per cent of new hires and 65 per cent of promotions at Scentre Group were women, and we see Girls in Property as a long-term investment in creating the next generation of female leaders in property – and specifically for Scentre Group.”

As part of the Girls in Property program agenda, the young women spent a day at Westfield Sydney and hear presentations from some of our inspirational female leaders from across the business.

The discussions raised awareness of the huge range of career paths available within the property sector and demonstrated that the industry and - in particular, Scentre Group as a vertically integrated business – is a place where women can and are encouraged to have successful and senior careers as experts in their chosen field.

In May 2019, Scentre Group was again endorsed by WGEA as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality, in recognition of our efforts to create a workplace culture in which women and men are equally represented, valued and rewarded.

Breaking down the barriers to achieving gender equality in the Property sector is a personal priority for our CEO, Peter Allen, who is a representative for Property Male Champions of Change and a WGEA Ambassador for Pay Equity.

“I continue to work as a Property Male Champion of Change to leverage new opportunities across the industry so we can expand our talent pool,” he said.

“I’m pleased to report we have no pay gap for like roles by gender and females represent 41 per cent of all people managers and 26.5 per cent at senior executive level. But we must continue to take action to ensure greater numbers of women enter the industry and are supported to pursue leadership positions so we can achieve gender balance at senior levels.

“This is a personal priority of mine, as well as a key priority for our business, and I’m pleased that we have once again invested in our future pipeline of talented women and supported Girls in Property.”

By the end of 2021, Scentre Group has committed to increasing representation of female executives from 26.5 per cent to 30 per cent. Our target to achieve representation of 40 per cent female, 40 per cent male and 20 per cent either gender across all management roles was achieved in 2018 and we are focussed on maintaining this.