Welcome to Your Member Portal: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started

We’re excited to welcome you to the brand-new Women in Digital Member Portal – your digital home for inspiration, connection, and career growth.

Whether you’re here for the resources, event replays, or just want to connect with like-minded women in tech, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know to make the most of your membership.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Logging In

To access the Member Portal, simply click on the link and log in using the email address linked to your membership. If it’s your first time logging in, hit “Forgot Password” to set up a secure password.

💡 Tip: Bookmark the page for easy access anytime!

Step 2: Update Your Member Profile

Let’s get to know you! Once you’re in, click on your profile in the top corner and select “Account Details”. Here you can:

Upload a profile photo
Add your job title, company, and LinkedIn URL
Tell us more about your role

This helps us know more about your background, tailor your experience and helps other members connect with you.

Step 3: Explore the Resource and Webinar Library

Under the “Resources” tab, you’ll find a curated collection of:

Downloadable templates and guides
On-demand webinars and event recordings
Career tools and productivity hacks

Browse by category, save your favourites, and revisit anytime. New content is added regularly, so keep checking back!

Step 4: Register for Events and Workshops

Want to join our next coffee catch-up or career workshop? Head to the Events section to RSVP. As a member, you’ll get exclusive access to free events, plus early-bird access and discounts on our major events – including the WID Awards Gala.

Step 5: Stay Connected

Keep an eye on your inbox for the exclusive members-only newsletter, packed with updates, opportunities, and content you won’t find anywhere else.

💡 Need to update your contact info or preferences? Just head to your account settings anytime.

Final Thoughts

The Member Portal is designed to support your journey – whether you’re just getting started or you’re already leading the way. So take a look around, dive into the resources, and make the most of everything that’s now at your fingertips.

And as for the WID Portal, this is just the beginning! We’ll be adding more resources to supercharge your career, so please let us know what you’d love to see in here.

Have questions or feedback? We’d love to hear from you – just drop us an email.

What would you do with an extra $28,425?

For every $1 a man earns, women earn 78 cents on average. This adds up to a yearly difference of $28,425. It’s a hard number for us to look at, and with the release of the 2023-24 Employer Gender Pay Gaps Report by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), Australia is shedding light on the persistent gender pay disparities across the country.

With data from 7,800 private sector employers and 1,700 corporate groups, this report provides a benchmark for companies to drive change. For women in digital and tech industries, these insights are crucial to understanding where the sector stands and what actions are needed to close the gap.

Understanding the Gender Pay Gap

The gender pay gap represents the difference in average remuneration between men and women, expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings. It is not the same as equal pay, which ensures men and women are paid equally for the same work. The gender pay gap, however, reflects broader disparities in workforce composition, career progression, and barriers to leadership roles.

Key Data Points from the Report

Half of employers have an average total remuneration gender pay gap larger than 12.1%.
The median gender pay gap stands at 8.9%, reflecting a 0.2 percentage point reduction from the previous year.
72.2% of employers have a gender pay gap favoring men, while only 6.5% favor women.
15.3% of employers are achieving gender pay parity, maintaining a pay gap within the target range (-5% to +5%).
68% of employers conducted a gender pay gap analysis, a critical first step in identifying and addressing inequalities.

Tech and Digital Industries: Where Do We Stand?

Tech and digital industries continue to grapple with gender disparities, particularly in leadership roles and high-paying positions:

Men are 1.9 times more likely to be in the highest pay bracket.
Women are 1.5 times more likely to be in the lowest remuneration quartile.
The highest pay quartile earns 3.7 times more than the lowest quartile, reinforcing income inequality.

Industry Comparisons and Challenges

Industries with higher male representation in leadership tend to have larger pay gaps. For instance, construction has an average pay gap of 25.3%, while education has a lower pay gap at 9.1%. In tech, a key challenge remains the underrepresentation of women in senior roles and high-growth areas such as cybersecurity, cloud, and AI.

“We need to ensure that organisations have active strategies in place to remove barriers and build equal pathways to well paid roles. With this increased data transparency and peer-to-peer benchmarking, there is no longer an excuse.

Organisations like Lorna Jane have demonstrated leadership in transforming their gender pay gap from 37.1% remuneration gap down to 2.9% in 12 months. This shows that tangible change in a short space of time is truly possible”
– Holly Hunt, Founder and CEO of Women in Digital

What Needs to Happen Next?

For employers in digital and tech, this report serves as a call to action.

Conduct Gender Pay Gap Analyses

Only 68% of employers have conducted a gender pay gap analysis, despite strong evidence that transparency leads to better outcomes. While the WGEA mandate requires companies with 100+ employees to report on gender pay equity, businesses of all sizes should proactively assess their data.

Companies with clear pathways to promotion and structured remuneration growth for all genders see higher retention rates, improved performance, and stronger financial returns. Identifying pay gaps is the first step toward meaningful change. Commercially, it just makes sense to attract, retain, and grow all employees equally.

Increase Female Representation in Leadership

Women are underrepresented in high-paying tech leadership roles, and for many reasons. The time when women move into leadership often coincides with increased caregiving responsibilities, impacting career progression. Employers can take action by:

Ensuring flexible work arrangements support career growth without sacrificing work-life balance
Providing equal-access parental leave for both men and women to foster shared caregiving responsibilities.
Implementing structured leadership development programs that actively support women’s career progression in tech.

Address Workplace Bias

Unconscious bias impacts hiring, promotions, and salary negotiations, widening the pay gap. To address this, companies should:

Implement structured pay transparency to ensure salary decisions are equitable.
Audit promotion pathways to identify and remove systemic barriers.
Train hiring managers to recognize and mitigate bias in recruitment and performance evaluations.

Enhance Workplace Policies

Parental leave, flexible work arrangements, and structured return-to-work programs play a crucial role in retaining women in tech careers. Companies leading in gender equity invest in:

Comprehensive parental leave policies that encourage career continuity.
Flexible return-to-work programs that ease transitions back into the workforce.
Sponsorship and mentorship initiatives to support women’s leadership progression.

Benchmark Against the Industry

Employers should leverage WGEA’s Data Explorer to compare their performance and set clear targets for improvement. Industry benchmarking allows organisations to measure themselves against peers. If other companies in the same sector have a lower pay gap, it’s worth asking why. Taking proactive steps to close the gap is not just an ethical decision, it’s a strategic advantage.

Final Thoughts

While progress is being made, the gender pay gap in tech remains a significant challenge. As individuals, advocating for pay transparency and career progression is key. As organisations, implementing structured policies and fostering a culture of equity and inclusion will drive meaningful change.

For women in digital and tech, now is the time to leverage these insights, advocate for fair pay, and push for systemic industry-wide transformation.

You can download a copy of the Employer Gender Pay Gaps report here.

Inspired. Motivated. Focused. Three words summarising how I felt walking out after two days at the Liquid Learning, Women in ICT and Digital Leadership Summit 2019.

I’m Emma Judd, Group Marketing Manager at Place Design Group and I was the lucky winner of the Women in Digital LinkedIn competition, to attend this Summit from July 23 2019 to July 24 2019.

You may have seen, I took over the @womenindigital Instagram Stories for the duration of the conference and can view my stories on their highlights here.

While it was two days jam-packed with an amazing lineup of speakers, the below will give you a brief insight and share some knowledge nuggets and relatable advice I personally took from this event.

DAY 1: 23 July

On day one of the summit we heard from some fantastic speakers, with the line-up including:

Joanna Murray, Program Manager, Transformation & Innovation, Boral
Chris Locke, Chief Information Officer, Flight Centre
Deb Assheton, Expert Facilitator, The Amplify Group
Wendy Bryant, Chief Information Officer, Transport for NSW
Keli Saville, Regional Head of Data, AsiaPac, Vanguard
Niamh Collins, General Manager, Digital, HFC
Jade Carson, Director, IT Investments, Department of Education & Training
Kirsty McKay, Group Manager, Program Delivery & Digital Transformation, Coates Hire
Katie Payten, Director, Technology Assurance & Governance, Australian Securities & Investments Commission
Kylie McLean, Chief Digital Officer, Australia & New Zealand, IBM
Simon Noonan, Chief Information Officer, SportsBet

The first day, the first speaker at a conference is always exciting and generally sets the tone for what you can expect and Joanna Murray, Program Manager, Transformation & Innovation at Boral, did just that.

Setting us up for the day, Joanne asked us to reflect back to the start of our careers. Did we know what we wanted to be, and how we planned to get there? I know myself. I definitely had a plan and thought it would go a certain way but reflecting back, it was actually a very different path I’d taken. I think this is a really positive thought to reflect on, especially if you are a mentor or in a leadership role guiding your team through their career journey.

My favourite quote from Joanne’s presentation was, “Great leaders don’t think they’re great; great leaders think they’re human.”

From career reflection to career reflecting. Chris Locke, Chief Information Officer, Flight Centre, shared some great career advice which I’ve shared below:

Don’t be afraid of trying different things in different industries
Make a plan and make it happen
Be resilient, but patient
Get experience – think outside the square

This was also a lovely flow into the third speaker, Deb Assheton, Expert Facilitator, The Amplify Group, who spoke on the importance of true self-confidence, the value of vulnerability and gratitude along with self-awareness.

A nice reminder that Deb left us with was that the struggle ends where gratitude begins. Practising daily gratitude makes us 5-10% happier, and costs us nothing.

“What are you grateful for today?”

I think one of my favourite, most thought-provoking parts of the day was Wendy Bryant’s presentation. Wendy Bryant, Chief Information Officer, Transport for NSW, spoke on ‘Unconscious Bias’. To explain this, Wendy made this really relatable asking us all to discuss at our tables if there were any roles we automatically associate with a man or a woman; knowing perfectly well that both genders actually worked in that particular role. For example, when one thinks of a pilot, a doctor, a nurse or a kindergarten teacher, does one stereotype a particular gender? Needless to say, most people, by default of unconscious bias, did so.

Wendy also reflected on her time as the only woman in an IT team working with all men. She refused to be the ‘cake cutter’ at workplace celebrations, as the default was to ‘leave it to Wendy because she was the woman’. Reflecting on our own workplaces, I feel there is so much that can be consciously done or implemented to improve this default gender bias. Some ideas Wendy shared with us included:

Unconscious bias training
Focus on bias in AI – change your Siri voice to male
- I found this topic extremely interesting. Here is an article from Google that discusses it in more detail.
Specific actions on diversity in hiring processes and opportunities

Post lunch, we returned to the room for a panel discussion on ‘Whether work-life balance is possible?’. And great news – it is! And here are the panellists’ top tips for making it happen:

Find what works for you. If you play a sport or enjoy gym as an outlet – prioritise that and make a routine that works.
Plan holidays in advance and stick to them – If you’re busy, it’s easy to not plan your downtime, but time with family and friends is important. Book it in. Booking it in advance gives you something to look forward to.
Don’t hesitate to raise your hand if you need help. A great tip. Learn to delegate and ask those around you for help when needed.
Work smarter using smarter working techniques. Again something to Google, but what it comes down to is the fact that we all have 24 hours in a day. Use them wisely. The one thing money can’t buy is time.
As women in leadership, WE need to support flexibility. This is so important. If your team comes to you wanting to discuss flexible working options, be the change. Listen to their request and see what may be possible.
Flexibility in the workplace. Break down the barriers and become outcomes-based. This is such a positive and practical way to frame this thought process, as just because someone sits at their desk all day, it doesn’t mean they are being any more productive than someone working from home. Change the focus to be on outcomes, not on the number of hours sitting at a desk, and encourage flexible working arrangements.

The final two presenters for day one, Kylie McLean, Chief Digital Officer, Australia & New Zealand, IBM and Simon Noonan, Chief Information Officer, SportsBet, touched on workplace culture. Kylie really drove home the message that as leaders, it’s so important to create a culture that gets your team to thrive. This was a fantastic leeway into Simon’s Case Study around transforming workplace culture, with SportsBet as an example. Honestly, SportsBet sounds like an amazing place to work with a fantastic culture. Guided by its purpose, and underpinned by its values, SportsBet doesn’t just have its values hung on the wall; they live its values, which makes all the difference.

DAY 2: 24 July

Inspired from day one, excited for day two and it did not disappoint. The fantastic line-up of speakers included:

Stuart Harrison, Chief Information Security Officer, Medibank
Megan James, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Data Centres & President, Women in IT & Communications
Arabella Macpherson, Founder & Communications Coach, Resonate Communications
Jade Carson, Director IT Investments, Department of Education & Training
Brendan Mills, Chief Information Officer, NIB Health Funds Limited
Sarah McCullough, Head of eTech Operations, Essential Energy
Kathryn Porter, Director, Customer Experience, Cisco
Joyce Harkness, Chief Information Officer, Avant Mutual Group Limited
Kirsten Murray, Director International, Faculty of Engineering & IT, the University of Technology Sydney
Catherine Nolan, Director & Principal Coach, Gender Gap Gone

Stuart Harrison, Chief Information Security Officer, Medibank, kicked-off day two proceedings by sharing some words of wisdom about realising your leadership potential. A key theme that came through reflecting on day one was to show vulnerability. As leaders, you do need to stay strong for your team, but vulnerability is not a sign of weakness, but a sign that you are human. Showing vulnerability can often lead to building rapport and relationships with your team. A really lovely reminder for all leaders.

From the importance of vulnerability in leadership to the importance of resilience as leaders. Resilience was the topic Megan James, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Data Centres & President, Women in IT & Communications, covered in her personal career journey she shared with attendees. Megan is a very inspirational woman, and since the conference, I have shared parts of her story with many of my colleagues. They say you may not remember what people say, but you will always remember how they made you feel. In this case, I remembered what Megan said because of how it made me feel and how much it resonated. If you get the opportunity to hear Megan speak, I would highly recommend you take it and hear her story first-hand. I will share my key takeaways from Megan’s presentation below and hope you take some inspiration from this too:

Stay in your lane and stand up for what you believe in – no matter what
Always hold true to your values – above all else
Value your soft skills – emotional intelligence
Be present and always show up
Everyone has a story – so listen
Engage with people – see how you get the best out of people – allow the creative opportunity
Don’t compromise on any of the above

As leaders and mentors, it’s always useful to have references or tools to provide the best possible guidance and advice to enable meaningful conversations with your teams and mentees. Arabella Macpherson, Founder & Communications Coach, at Resonate Communications shared with us some great tips for unleashing your power as a mentor. I’ve summarised them below:

Coaching
- Ask questions
- Make suggestions
- Share experiences
Chunking
- Use chunking to open up or delve deeper into topics
Matching
- Give all of your attention
- Match 60%: physically and vocally
- Repeat words and phrases back to show acknowledgement

Towards the end of day two, the discussion changed to be more around the future of work. Jade Carson, Director of IT Investments, Department of Education & Training, spoke passionately on the topic of engaging and attracting future female leaders to IT roles.

Some ideas and strategies Jade touched on started right back at engaging young girls to show interest in IT. Whether that be at home, at school or at play. It’s also about attracting girls and women to a career in IT by changing the image/perception of tech, promoting meaningful careers and addressing the unconscious bias. On top of this, growing the focus on the culture around tech, closing the confidence gap through training and education and having strong female mentors or sponsors will help attract female IT talent. Jade concluded that we should keep a focus on culture being equitable and reflective of diversity. And that job design or redesign for flexibility is important. Overarching, she highlighted female role models across the IT industry is key.

Continuing the future of work discussion, panellists’ thoughts covered:

The importance of business and IT partnerships – with the increase in technologies in the workplace, it’s important for businesses and IT leaders to work closely for the best possible outcomes
Portfolio careers – showing depth and breadth of experience
Being location agnostic – it’s not about where you’re physically working from. With technology, you are enabled to work from anywhere. This also ties into the earlier discussion around being outcomes focused.
Gig Economy – presents great opportunities but also new challenges

And that’s a wrap! Catherine Nolan, Director & Principal Coach, at Gender Gap Gone, was our facilitator across the two-day summit and presented a great summary of the insights from across the event. A few practical tips she left us with include:

Create a Vision Board – use Pinterest or Canva to get started. If you see it, you’ll achieve it.
Create your 40-page resume – a dumping ground for YOU only. List examples as they happen so that when the time comes, you have the content and are ready to apply for that dream job.
Watch the Amy Cuddy Ted Talk – ‘Your body language may shape who you are’

There were honestly so many fantastic insights and inspirational moments over the two days. I hope this blog post shares just some of that post-summit magic with you all.

Thank you for reading.

Emma Judd

Instagram: @emajudd

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emajudd/

Do you have more insightful leadership tips? Share them in the comments below.

By Lani Pauli, Deane & Co

The notion of including a blog on your business website can seem like a big commitment, especially if you’re not a natural writer.

But let me tell you, having an active blog can be one of the most unexpectedly powerful elements in your business arsenal.

Case in point, a blog post I wrote 3 years ago – an interview with a knife maker from Tasmania of all things – still brings traffic to my site every single day! I had no idea this lovely gent was going to become a cult figure on the Australian food scene, but that’s the beauty of having a blog. Now thousands of extra pairs of eyes have come across my business website without me lifting a finger.

If you are thinking through the value of having a blog, here’s five important reasons why you might consider creating a blog for your business:

#1 It helps drive traffic to your website

Here’s a simple equation: the more pages on your website, the more opportunity to attract readers and website traffic. If you blog consistently and build up a following, that’s extra traffic each and every day. The more often your website is added to, the more search engines like Google know that they can legitimately send traffic there.

#2 It humanizes your brand

A good way to differentiate your product or service from competitors with similar products of services is to have a blog. Say if you were a professional coach and consultant you could highlight that your area of expertise was helping teams work harmoniously or you could showcase your sense of humour in delivering training. It’s these personal extras that help a client choose you over a competitor.

#3 It’s another channel of communication

A blog is another less formal avenue to talk to your customers and it presents numerous opportunities to seel, without selling. For example, if you were a jewellery brand, you could create lots of interesting content about travel, food, fashion that can include jewellery without out it being an overt sales pitch. It’s much more fun for your customer to read a blog about the fabulous jewellery you wore on holiday in Marrakech than to see your product catalogue again.

#4 It signals your business is active

An updated blog signals to new customers that your business is active, well maintained and going well. It’s a simple way to give a positive message about how successful you are.

#5 It helps establish your authority

Creating a blog and showcasing your thoughts, experiences, and expertise is an excellent way to display your authority and credibility in a particular area or industry. If you sell a food product or service, using your blog to talk about upcoming chefs, new restaurants, great cookbooks, amazing documentaries or food experiences show you know you are an expert in the food space, upping credibility to business and product along the way.

By Phyllida Yeo

To be big, you need to think big. Canva, the hugely successful online design platform empowering everyone to unleash their creativity and design anything, is doing just that. In four short years, it’s grown from a small Sydney start-up to a $1 billion valuated business — and according to Liz, Head of PR and Communications, Canva, the journey has only just begun!

With 250+ innovators propelling this newly crowned “tech unicorn” into its future, we asked Liz about the business’s latest achievements and what it’s like to be part of the Canva team.

What was the team’s reaction to the new $1 billion valuation and $40 million round of funding?

This new funding round is a great vote of confidence for our vision to empower everyone to design anything and publish anywhere. No matter what you’re creating, we want Canva to be the one-stop place that makes the whole experience seamless.

Our achievements so far have given everyone even more motivation for the huge journey ahead — everyone here is super excited to play a huge role in it!

What helped the team achieve success so quickly?

One of our values is to “Set Crazy Big Goals and Make Them Happen”. While chasing after them can be intimidating, it pushes you to try harder and dream even bigger. Without this value, our most recent achievements and projects such as Canva Print, Canva for Android and Canva Animations wouldn’t have happened. And, we wouldn’t have helped millions of people all over the globe collectively create 400 million designs since launch!

How is this new funding going to help Canva achieve the rest of its “crazy big goals”?

Just recently, we launched in 100 languages, which brings us one step closer to making our product accessible to everyone. This new funding will enable us to implement even more enhancements and give us the ability to scale, so we can bring Canva to more people around the world.

Our number one focus is creating a product that users continue to love, while scaling our team and culture — this chapter is definitely the most fun!

How does it feel to work in a place where innovation and breaking the boundaries is at its core?

I’m incredibly lucky to be surrounded by super smart people, all of whom share the same big dreams and plans for Canva — especially our CEO, Melanie Perkins.

She is one of the most visionary, yet down-to-earth and approachable CEOs I’ve ever worked with. She leads by example, setting a company culture and approach to teamwork that really sets Canva apart. When you see someone as dedicated as Melanie — always willing to roll up their sleeves and help out — it’s hard not to get infected by her drive for success!

Speaking of success, what helped you achieve yours?

Perseverance, bravery and learning to deal with negative feedback positively so you can forge ahead with your new learnings. This also means having a strong locus of control — you need to understand what you can control and accept what you can’t.

Also being willing to do the grunt work despite what your title says.

Lastly, where do you see the future of online design platforms and Digital Marketing going?

We continue to see a strong trend toward visual communication. Marketers will have to continue to explore new visual ways of getting people’s attention. This is why I think the trend for more personalisation will continue to grow. We’re already seeing super tailored video content become the norm. It’s that personal touch that makes all the difference.

Whether it’s creating marketing collateral or a killer presentation, the Canva team is continually pushing the boundaries to provide the best experience for all members of their design community. With no dream too big, they are well on their way to achieving even more success locally and on a global scale.

This article was contributed by our star blogger, Phyllida Yeo. Phyllie is a driven digital marketer based in Brisbane. Since she started her career in a graduate program, she has developed a passion for all things digital. Whether it’s content marketing, search marketing or simply getting inspired by others, she enjoys building her skills across all areas of the industry. She is currently a Digital Marketing Coordinator at Signet.

Read more interesting stories on Inspiring Women in Digital here.

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