Shifting the dial: How ANZ is championing women in finance

Q. ANZ was a platinum sponsor of the Women in Finance Summit and Awards. What were your main thoughts and takeaways from this year’s Women in Finance?

It was really great because the summit itself created an environment for everyone. From small businesses to business owners and corporate leaders, it showed that the challenges across finance are quite universal: how do we connect with our customers? How do we attract talent? How do we build a strong business?

It really helped tackle some of those issues and create a space for everyone to discuss those.

At the awards, there was a lot of joy in the room. But what I really observed was women were being their authentic selves. We’ve come a long way where people feel that they can now genuinely be themselves. If you go back 10 years ago, I don’t think people felt comfortable, necessarily, being in the spotlight and being their authentic selves as much as we are today – I think is a real step forward.

Q. What do you think is the mark of a great finance business?

When I think of the businesses that I’ve partnered with throughout my career that have been successful, they’ve had a couple of things in common. One is that they’re very clear on what they offer, and they’re very clear on the customers that they service, and they’re very clear on the needs of the customers that they service.

When things don’t go according to plan, they have the ability to listen and learn. They have that ability to reframe and adapt when they recognise that either the external landscape changes, or something internally is not working as they intended. That really requires great listening skills and that genuine ability to listen to both your customers and to your staff.

So, if you’re very clear on what your customers expect from you and how you’re going to deliver that – and have the right people in the business and are aligned all the way through – that is really going to provide a successful outcome.

Q. Do you think the finance industry is moving the dial when it comes to female representation?

In broking specifically, it’s still only 27 per cent of the workforce, and it hasn’t really shifted since 2017. So, while there’s been a lot of energy and focus in mortgage broking… it says that we haven’t really been able to shift the dial, even for all the programs and support that people have put in place.

But we are seeing a change. It is happening. It’s about having talent in the organisation and retaining that talent… what you need to do to support people and that flexibility. For example, for me, I needed to step out and work part-time as I had my children – or, as in the last year – when I had an elderly father that I needed to take care of.

What we need to do is figure out how we spread that across all of the finance industry, not have it just in pockets of finance. We need to take the learnings about what it is to support women to continue to develop and grow their careers, so they’ve got just as much opportunity as men and to continue to hit the peak of their abilities and talents within the industry.

In banking, there are many more men now taking parental leave, which allows the female partners to come back into the workforce. So, it’s really making sure that it is not gendered. It’s supporting both to make the right decisions for them in their careers.

Q. What is ANZ doing to support women in broking?

We’re very proud of our Doyenne program. It’s been going since 2018, and it’s now got an alumni of 90 women. Doyenne is a six-week program that really focuses on their business. It’s not about the individual (but you can’t work as a business owner and work on the business without spending time reflecting on your role as a business owner and what challenges you face).

This year, we had our largest cohort of Doyennes – 30 Doyennes. That is 30 people where ANZ invested into their businesses. What they loved the most was not only the content that we gave them, which is technical and practising different skill sets and focusing on problems, but also the way that they just could talk, regardless of what aggregator or state they are in.

This cohort was really amazing… they just had an energy and an enthusiasm that was really something to witness. They were very active in creating a community themselves, and they still connect on a regular basis. What we fostered and created was the environment – a safe space to support them in terms of growing and focusing on their business and sharing those ideas.

We love the Doyenne program at ANZ. It’s something that we’re very proud of, and we’re looking forward to what we can do with it in 2026.

Q. What steps can businesses take to ensure more female recruitment?

This is something that ANZ has been doing for quite a while now. We’re ensuring that the recruitment process is removing the unconscious bias that we all have.

It starts from the way we put job ads into market and making sure that we use really gender-neutral language. It’s about highlighting the flexible work arrangements to attract a diverse pool of candidates and trying to avoid jargon terms that might unintentionally discourage certain people to apply.

At ANZ, we also make sure that our recruitment panels are really structured to be balanced, so we are providing perspectives to minimise unconscious bias.

And we are also making sure that the policies work when we have people returning from parental leave. We include return-to-work pathways. We’re making sure that there’s connectivity while people are on leave – such as mentoring and learning – to make sure that the transition back to the workforce is as smooth as possible.

Q. Do you think finance is a good career choice for women?

I’ve stayed in it for 30 years, and I absolutely think it is! It’s provided me with diverse experience and challenges.

What I love about finance is that it’s core to everyone’s life, and it makes such a difference to the quality of life for people and the way that they can go about achieving their own goals…

I find it quite stimulating because there’s always something new happening. So, I think it’s fabulous!