The Consult Australia Champions of Change Coalition has a new Chair, Arup’s Australasia Co-Chair Kerryn Coker, who is “ready to roll up my sleeves and get on with the job”.

The Champions of Change Coalition was founded by former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick AO in 2010 to increase women’s representation in leadership.

Today, the Champions of Change Coalition is a globally recognised, innovative network of leaders taking responsibility for gender equality issues in their organisations and communities. Members see gender inequality as a business, economic, social and human rights issue.

The Consult Australia Champions of Change Group represents Australia’s design, advisory and engineering services businesses. Established in 2016, the group comprises 11 CEOs who lead 20,000-plus employees. Together, these leaders are focused on removing structural inequities and creating safe, respectful and inclusive workplace cultures for a gender-equal future. 

Kerryn, who takes the reins from SMEC’s CEO James Phillis, has seen “large strides” during her three years with the group, and positive recognition that diversity and inclusion is “essential for business success including growth and productivity”.

Australia’s construction industry employs more than 1.3 million Australians and contributes 7.2% of GDP, making it the nation’s third largest industry. But female representation in construction remains stubbornly low. Women make up 12% of the workforce and hold just 2% of onsite roles.

The design, advisory and engineering sector fares better. The latest Consult Australia Champions of Change Group annual report shows 34.2% of all positions were held by women in 2023.

“I’m proud to see our efforts making a difference but the construction industry still has the largest gender pay gap of any industry in Australia, and we continue to hear from people experiencing harmful behaviours on projects and on construction sites. This is not acceptable, and we must acknowledge that change isn’t happening fast enough.”

The Cost of Doing Nothing Report, commissioned by the Culture in Construction Taskforce, found the lack of diversity, together with other cultural issues, costs the Australian economy nearly $8 billion a year.

“Prioritising policies that address sexual harassment in line with positive duty legislation will drive productivity and innovation in the sector, and support other national priorities like infrastructure delivery and the energy transition.”

Kerryn is responsible for Arup’s region-wide business of 3.000-plus people. She joined Arup in London in 2004 to practice as a façade engineer before returning to Australia in 2007 to lead façade design and multidisciplinary design teams on innovative projects. Kerryn is also responsible for implementing Arup’s global sustainable development strategy for the region, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Kerryn and Arup Co-Chair Kate West were recognised for their innovative approach to shared leadership earlier in 2024, winning the professional services category of The Australian Financial Review Women in Leadership Awards.

“Industry-wide change will only occur when we work together to address systemic and structural issues and share learnings. Larger firms often have more resources dedicated to implementing diversity and inclusion policies, and they can support smaller firms to level up. The Consult Australia Champions of Change Group is a unique forum where competitors come together to support improvement within our own organisations and collectively drive industry-wide action for gender equality and inclusion.”

Find out more about the Consult Australia Champions of Change Group and check out the gallery of images from our annual Champions of Change luncheon.