As reported in ACICA’s Reflections on the Last Decade of Activity at the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration Report launched during Australian Arbitration Week last year, over the course of the last decade (2011–2021), 86% of total appointments in cases administered by ACICA were of men arbitrators and less than 14% of appointments were of women arbitrators. The steps being taken by ACICA to drive the diversity of its appointments clearly have had an impact given that 23% of ACICA appointed arbitrators over that time were female as compared to only 9% of party appointed arbitrators.
ACICA constantly strives to improve the representation of women arbitrators in various aspects of the arbitration industry, from gender equity at conferences to increasing the number of women arbitrators appointed in ACICA administered cases. ACICA has published a Guidance Note on the Appointment of Arbitrators which notes that, in addition to any formal requirements, parties should consider (amongst other things) diversity and issues of equal representation, such as gender, age, geography, culture, ethnicity, and professional background of the arbitrator.
In recognition of International Women’s Day, ACICA has reached out to its membership to request that they take simple steps to close the divide in the gender of party nominated arbitrators. These are steps that can be taken by anyone.
How can you contribute?
- Sign the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge and commit to its principles of improving the profile and representation of women in arbitration and appointing women as arbitrators on an equal opportunity basis.
- Read the ICCA Report of the Cross-Institutional Task Force on Gender Diversity in Arbitral Appointments and Proceedings and action the items in Part 3.
- Draw on the resources available: eg. ArbitralWomen database, the Mute Off Thursdays Compendium of Unicorns and the ERA Pledge Search Committee to identify qualified women candidates for appointment.
- Recognise and support qualified women colleagues by encouraging them to apply to the ACICA Panel of Arbitrators and providing a reference.
At ACICA we will continue to strive for gender equality in arbitral appointments. We hope you will assist us!
