ECU Deputy Vice-Chancellor selected as inaugural member of the National Athena Swan Australia Advisory Committee

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ECU Deputy Vice-Chancellor selected as inaugural member of the National Athena Swan Australia Advisory Committee

Tuesday, 28 November 2023

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ECU Deputy-Vice-Chancellor (Regional Futures) and Vice-President, Professor Cobie Rudd has been appointed as an inaugural member of the National Athena Swan Australia Advisory Committee. Chosen from a highly competitive pool of nominees, the National Advisory Committee consists of 12 expert members, that will provide assurance, independent advice, and guidance to Science in Australia Gender Equity Limited (SAGE) on the implementation of the Athena Swan Charter in Australia.

SAGE Chair Libby Lyons expressed her gratitude to the inaugural committee members.

“The SAGE Board, management and I look forward to working closely with this group of esteemed people, and benefiting from their valuable guidance” she said.

As Lead for Athena Swan, ECU’s institutional gender equality accreditation, Professor Rudd led the University to achieve an inaugural Athena Swan Institutional Bronze Award in 2018 after an extensive institutional-wide assessment of workplace culture and practice spanning two and a half years.

In 2020 as part of SAGE’s development of an Athena Swan Bronze to Silver Institutional Award pathway, Professor Rudd was nominated to represent participating WA universities and institutions on the National Athena Swan Cygnet Working Group. In this group, Professor Rudd was joined by State representatives from higher education and science institutions across the country and SAGE regularly convened the membership to develop and test the technical details, templates and guidance, which informed the framework for the SAGE Athena Swan Accreditation Pathway process.

In 2021, Professor Rudd was again asked to reprise her role on the working group for a second round to determine the necessary templates and documents that will inform the peer review assessment process.

Subsequently, in 2022, ECU was acknowledged as the first institution to receive the inaugural SAGE Cygnet Award, which reflects the progress, outcomes and impact the University has made in addressing specific barriers outlined within ECU’s Athena Swan Bronze Action Plan 2018 - 2023.

In total, ECU will need to deliver five ‘Cygnet Award’ submissions and have now achieved three. Following the final two being assessed and achieved (currently in process), the University will then apply for an overarching Institutional Silver Award in 2024.

For more information about the new Athena Swan Australia Advisory Committee please visit the SAGE website.

For more information about ECU’s commitment to gender equality, visit the ECU Gender Equality website or contact athenaswanaustralia@ecu.edu.au

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