Issue date
20 June 2024

Today, Acting Minister for Women Hon Louise Upston, announced that women’s representation on public sector boards and committees has reached 50% or above for the fourth consecutive year, with women holding 53.9% of public sector board roles. 

The data also shows that women now hold 46.2% of board chair roles, which is a significant increase from 41.9% in 2022.

Māori and ethnic diversity of public sector boards has also continued to increase since data collection for ethnicities on boards began in 2019. The 2023 data shows that Māori board members now hold 27.5% of board roles (up from 26.8% in 2022), Pacific board members 7.0% (down from 7.2% in 2022), Asian board members 6.1% (no change from 2022), and MELAA board members 0.8% (unchanged from 2022).

The 2023 stocktake reflects the continued work to increase the diversity on public sector boards and committees.