QBE is the first insurer to pledge support for the 40:40 Vision initiative, promising to achieve and maintain a balance of 40% women and 40% men in executive leadership by 2030.

The remaining 20% can be any gender.

Group CEO Andrew Horton says QBE already meets the criteria after appointing Sue Houghton as CEO Australia Pacific, Amanda Hughes as Group Chief People Officer and Yasmin Allen to the QBE board.

QBE joins a growing number of Australian companies led by Industry Super Fund HESTA committing to have ASX-listed executive teams achieve the 40:40 goal. ANZ, BHP, Bluescope, Domino’s, IDP Education, IGO, Mirvac, NextDC, Origin, Pendal, Ramsay Health, SkyCity, South32, Tabcorp, Viva Energy, Webjet and Westpac have also taken the pledge.

“Women in leadership has been a focus for QBE and while there’s more to do, we have made great strides forward and can proudly say we have met this target at an executive level and will now commit to maintaining it,” Mr Horton said.

“By supporting gender equality we are also prioritising pay equity, recognising that a key driver of gender pay gaps in many organisations is under-representation of women in leadership.”

QBE says it is actively working to remove the systemic barriers to women’s career development, including “addressing outdated gendered caring roles”, and ensuring a workplace culture where all views and perspectives are welcomed and respected.