The participation rate of women on state sector boards and committees as at December 2015 was 43.4 percent. This is an increase from 41.7 percent in 2014.
The Gender Stocktake of State Sector Boards and Committees is undertaken annually by the Ministry for Women.We count the Ministerial appointments to state sector boards and committees as at 31 December 2015. The data is taken from CAB 51 forms which are produced annually by the Cabinet Office.
The stocktake is dated 31 December 2015. It includes only New Zealand Ministerial appointments that are required to be considered through the Cabinet Appointments and Honours Committee (APH) or other Cabinet committees. The stocktake does include appointments made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of a Minister. It does not include members who have been elected, appointed as members of professional groups without Ministerial right of approval, ex-officio members, or current Members of Parliament. The stocktake does not include temporary boards or committees i.e. bodies set up for a particular project that is expected to take no more than approximately 18 months and are intended to disband as soon as that project is completed.
The stocktake captures the Ministerial appointed board members as at 31 December 2015. Appointments made outside of APH or other Cabinet Committees are by definition not included. There may be progress made within these appointments, which is not reflected in the Stocktake results. For example, in the relevant timeframe, the Ministry of Justice reports that outside of APH and Cabinet Committees appointees, there were 134 persons appointed to board positions, and of that number 85 were women.