No, seriously, where are the women?

According to Beresford, AFSA’s goal was to increase its gender equity to a minimum of 25 per cent, meaning 25 per cent of estates offered through the National Panel via s181A would be offered to female trustees and would discontinue s156A transfers without a consent to act.

Beresford said for the industry to be its most effective, it must reflect the community it serves.

“While there has been some success in increasing the number of female practitioners in the industry over the last three years, we still have a long way to go,” he said.

“We have a number of excellent female practitioners and female lead firms in our industry, and we will continue to work to increase this percentage through education and providing opportunities, such as the recent increase in estate administrators handed out to female trustees to 25 per cent.”

“We continue to work with industry bodies and other regulators as well as constantly taking feedback from the industry to determine the best path forward for the ongoing improvement of our industry.”

AFSA said by committing to offering 25 per cent of estates to female trustees, which is up from 20 per cent in 2022, this would aid the effort in promoting female representation in the personal insolvency industry.

Shabnam Amirbeaggi, Crouch Amirbeaggi managing partner, said one of the biggest barriers she saw to female representation and progression was perception.

Last year, Amirbeaggi appeared on an Accountants Daily podcast episode, in which she shared her original experience, passion and love for the industry as well as her experience of being one of the very first women to have been a registered liquidator and registered trustee in bankruptcy Australia wide.

Amirbeaggi said women’s participation at senior levels was critical to the long-term success and relevance of the insolvency profession.

“Perceptions need to change, pathways must be made more visible, and opportunities created through coordinated action by regulators, professional bodies and firms should be explored,” she said.

“The perception that women must choose between a career and family to be successful in senior roles, the perception that women are less capable of handling conflict or confrontation, and the perception that insolvency is a ‘doom and gloom’ profession.”

“The reality is that women are successfully navigating both career and family through proper planning, are usually more successful in de-escalating conflict and confrontation, and within some doom and gloom there are many more success stories of helping people through tough, and sometimes vulnerable, financial situations.”

Amirbeaggi also voiced support for AFSA’s initiative to give a greater percentage of estate administrations to female trustees, as it had already increased registrations.

“The most common frustration is that progress feels too slow and fragmented, with many existing groups running excellent, but often isolated, programs.”

“The next step from AFSA will be to encourage other government agencies, such as ASIC, ATO, FEG, and industry stakeholders, to actively refer work to female trustees (or liquidators). This referral base will provide a soft launch into networking and encourage more women to become registered.”

“It would also be great to see a national alliance of women in insolvency established, where the industry bodies, such as AIIP, ARITA, CPA, CA, and IPA come together under a shared campaign to collectively deliver a unified message, sharing resources to lobby the government together.”