What Australia and the UK Can Learn From Each Other About Gender Equity in Tech
by Emma Jones
In July, I travelled to the UK with a clear mission: to understand how its technology ecosystem is approaching gender equity, share what we are learning through the T-EDI Standards in Australia, and create a meaningful exchange between the two countries.
The visit included discussions across the UK ecosystem and a senior roundtable in London with people bringing experience from global technology companies, UK unicorns, Australian businesses, technology leadership and gender equity practice.
The discussion was held under the Chatham House Rule, which allowed us to move beyond polished success stories and talk honestly about where progress is happening, where it is stalling and what each country might learn from the other.
Different strengths, shared challenges
My biggest takeaway was that Australia does not lack commitment, evidence or activity.
We have strong institutional foundations, including WGEA reporting, public gender pay gap data and emerging technology-specific employer standards through T-EDI.
What we lack is a clear mechanism connecting that evidence with industry practice, investment outcomes, policy advocacy and sustained accountability.
The UK has many of the same challenges, but its approach includes more visible, technology-specific coordination. Its Women in Tech Taskforce brings government and industry together around women’s entry, progression and leadership in the sector.
Neither country has solved the problem. Both have strengths the other can learn from.
What we discussed
Six themes consistently emerged from the roundtable:
Equal, meaningful parental leave for every parent
Childcare as essential economic infrastructure
Active sponsorship of women, rather than relying on mentoring alone
Workplace cultures that make shared care normal
The risk of AI reproducing bias in recruitment
Greater transparency about how women progress through investment pipelines
These are not separate issues. They are connected parts of the systems determining whether women enter technology, stay, progress, lead and build businesses.
What I’m recommending
The briefing identifies four practical opportunities for Australia.
First, connect existing initiatives rather than creating more parallel activity.
Second, make shared care an industry standard through equal, gender-neutral parental leave and meaningful non-transferable leave for each parent.
Third, prepare for greater pay transparency, including publishing salary ranges during recruitment.
Finally, continue building UK-Australia knowledge exchange and explore how the T-EDI Standards and initiatives such as Equity Clear can strengthen accountability across employment and investment.
The aim is not to copy the UK. It is to learn from what is working in both countries and turn that knowledge into coordinated action.
The UK-Australia Gender Equity in Technology Briefing is available to download free: