Female quotas ordered for NSW ‘blokey jobs’

One  in five bosses, police officers, fire fighters, prison officers and other traditionally male jobs in NSW must be filled by women by next year amid warnings that the public service is still highly split along gender lines.

The move is part of a push by NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, the state’s first female leader, to get more women in male-dominated professions.

Ms Keneally has issued a directive to all public sector heads to lift the proportion of women in blokey organisations to 20 per cent by 2012.

In some areas this target has already been met but the latest target is the most ambitious yet. The previous mandatory proportion was 16 per cent, meaning there will need to be 25 per cent more women in those professions.

The Daily Telegraph, January 31, 2011.