Women make up just 11 per cent of the elite pool of barristers from which most of Victoria's top judges are chosen, presenting a major headache for the Andrew' government's target to have half of all judicial appointees be women.
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On Saturday, Premier Daniel Andrews told Labor's state conference that no less than 50 per cent of all future appointments to paid government boards and Victorian courts would be women.
It would be a long-term project, he said.
But the judiciary's worst performers in terms of female representation, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, are positions predominantly filled by senior barristers, where women are dramatically under-represented.
The number of female junior counsel at the Victorian Bar is just 505 out of 1713, or 29 per cent, and the situation is worse for female senior counsel with just 30 out of 264, or 11 per cent.
Just 32 per cent of the Supreme Court and County Court appointments are women. The situation is a little better in the Magistrates Court, with women making up 46 per cent of judges
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is leading the way in female representations in government appointed positions, with women already making up 52 per cent or 113 of its 217 members.
Six of VCAT's nine heads of lists are women and women also make up nine of its 13 deputy heads of lists, half of its vice-president positions and most of its deputy president positions.
VCAT acting president and County Court Judge Pamela Jenkins said the ratio of male to female members was reflective of society."Members are appointed on merit," she said. "We have a very flexible work environment which allows for a genuine work life balance."
VCAT's recruitment pathways are not limited to barristers.
The target will also apply to the 3283 boards that the government has involvement in – not all are paid positions. Each minister will be responsible for reaching the 50 per cent target within their portfolio.
The Premier said female representation on Victorian government boards had dropped from 40 per cent in 2010 to 35.6 per cent in 2014.
Women make up 80 per cent of the workforce in the health and social care industry but less than a quarter of the board of Melbourne Health are female, he said.
Many board positions will be up for consideration this year, including the Public Transport Development Authority board, which has just one woman on its six-person board.
