Workforce diversity
In addition to NAB’s focus on gender equality, the following key initiatives have taken place to support broader workplace diversity and inclusion:
NAB’s Indigenous Recruitment Program
Between 2017 and 2020, NAB has offered 256 traineeships and internships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
NAB’s aim is to uplift its Indigenous workforce to 2% by 2022. This supports our commitments outlined in NAB’s Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 2019 – 2021.
NAB’s African Australian Inclusion Program
505 participants have participated in the program over its 11-year history, gaining meaningful work experience and professional networks to build their careers in corporate Australia.
Employee resource groups
These are employee-led networks that foster a diverse and inclusive workplace. NAB has four employee resource groups:
- Gender Balance – influencing change and action on gender equality and why it matters.
- NABility – looking beyond disability to ability.
- NAB Pride – celebrating all LGBTI+ people for who they are.
- Cultural Inc – harnessing the power of cultural inclusion.
New Inclusion and Diversity Policy and measurable objectives for FY21-FY25
The Board approved a new Group Inclusion and Diversity Policy (Policy) in September 2020, committing to value and respect the diversity of our colleagues, customers, suppliers and communities to seek to ensure a positive experience for all.
The Policy aims to:
- attract and retain diverse teams, enhancing our approach to decision making and innovating for the future
- empower individuals to work and grow together in an inclusive, safe and flexible way
- leverage the diversity of skills to enhance the customer experience and organisational growth
- design accessible products and services for financial inclusion and those who are vulnerable
- support our local communities and be proud of NAB’s brand and reputation.
Recognising more work is needed to drive cultural change at NAB, the Board set measurable objectives for FY21-FY25 which are outlined in the Policy. These are:
- diverse leadership teams and talent pipelines which includes:
- at each salary level 40-60% of either gender represented
- NAB Board (non-executive directors) 40-60% of either gender represented
- NAB Group subsidiary boards 40-60% of either gender represented
- inclusive workforce culture – Engagement Score top 20% (including diverse segments)
- fair remuneration – seek to reward colleagues fairly and support NAB’s objective of gender pay equity <10% by 2025.
To support leadership accountability of the measurable objectives, key performance indicators will be put in place for all people leaders. Further, these measurable objectives will be evaluated against internal targets and appropriate external benchmarks annually and reported to the Board.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) gender equity indicators
NAB has achieved the 2019-2020 WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation and complied with our reporting requirements under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth) for the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. More information can be found in the 2019 – 2020 Public Report (PDF, 420KB).
NAB has also met the minimum standards in relation to specified gender equality indicators, as set out in the Workplace Gender Equality (Minimum Standards) Instrument 2014.
Gender pay equity
Gender pay equity is a measurable objective in the Policy. WGEA analysis indicates the gender pay gap (base salary of men to women across the organisation) of the Australian based workforce at NAB is 20.1%4.
While slightly lower than the average pay gap for the financial and insurance services industry (22.2%), it is not where it should be.
Many factors determine a person’s pay including their skills, experience, qualifications, performance and work hours. NAB regularly reviews gender pay equity and is committed to:
- Conducting regular pay reviews across roles, and the organisation.
- Making sure annual remuneration recommendations for specific roles are gender neutral.
- Examining performance and reward outcomes on a yearly basis to identify any potential gender bias.
- Reviewing remuneration for our colleagues who return from parental leave to ensure their remuneration remains aligned.
The under-representation of women in senior management at NAB and within highly remunerated roles across the business has contributed to our gender pay gap.
Further details on NAB’s Inclusion and Diversity approach and progress, refer to NAB’s 2020 Sustainability Report (PDF, 2.3MB).
4 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) 2018-2019 benchmarking report. Updated benchmarking reports by WGEA in 2021.