Research reveals women still face barriers at work, with 81% saying they must work harder to access the same opportunities

Complete Office Supplies (COS)

It’s been over four years since the Review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 was established, requiring Australian employers to take action to improve gender equality in their workplaces[1]. Whilst progress has been made, new research shows that inequality remains a persistent barrier for women. From fewer pathways into leadership, to the pressure of having to continually prove themselves, as well as enduring the lack of consistent parental support, the findings suggest Australia still has work to do.

The nationally representative study of more than 1,000 Australian workers, commissioned by COS (Complete Office Supplies) – Australia’s largest family-owned workplace supplies company led by Co-CEO sisters Amie and Belinda Lyone – found that women continue to report workplace realities that differ starkly from their male counterparts.

One of the clearest divides is securing leadership positions. Just 56% of women believe they have an equal opportunity to advance into senior roles, compared to 73% of men. Men were also far more likely to say promotions in their workplace are based on merit (65% vs 42%). Women who disagreed pointed to structural barriers, with 39% citing that senior leadership is predominantly male and advancement favours existing informal networks, and 27% highlighting a lack of transparency around how advancement decisions are made.

The pressure to prove oneself also falls disproportionately on women. A striking 81% said that they believed they have to work harder than their male peers to access the same opportunities – a perception even echoed by men, with 73% agreeing that women have to put in more effort to be given the same chances.

Parenting responsibilities added another layer to the inequality. In fact, mothers were nearly twice as likely as fathers to say they had missed out on opportunities due to parental responsibilities, reinforcing how caring duties still disproportionately impact women’s careers.

On the findings, COS Co-CEO Belinda Lyone says, “The inequalities women face are not always loud or obvious, they can often be invisible, but they add up. Whether it’s feeling the need to prove yourself repetitively or seeing colleagues advance because they have more access to networks, the message is clear: Australia still has to do more to create workplaces that are truly equal.

“As a female-led business, we know change requires more than statements of support. It requires strong systems and clear frameworks that embed equality into every decision, from how we recruit and promote to how we measure and reward performance. When these structures are in place, every person has a fair and supported chance to lead.”

The research also points to a cultural cost. Workers who perceive inequality, whether in leadership access or parenting support, are less likely to feel engaged and more likely to consider leaving their organisation. Among women under 40, one in three (34%) said they would “likely” move to another employer within two years if equality barriers persisted.

“These inequalities are not just a ‘women’s issue’, they’re a business issue,” says Lyone. “When talent feels overlooked or unsupported, the entire organisation suffers. Companies that make equality an organisational priority will attract and retain stronger teams.

Equality is not just an aspiration for COS, but a lived reality. Sisters Belinda and Amie Lyone lead a company of 700 employees across every state and territory and have helped steer it from its Sydney roots in 1977 into an over $300 million national business. Their executive leadership team is more than 50% female, with women representing over 45% of management roles in FY24/25. This figure has continued to grow steadily over the past few years, challenging the norm in a sector still dominated by men.

Based on its own experience, COS encourages organisations to focus on three equity actions:

• Establish fair and transparent systems: Implement clear frameworks that remove bias in recruitment, promotion, and pay decisions. Ensure all roles are reviewed through consistent processes such as annual salary benchmarking and gender pay gap analysis to maintain equity in outcomes.
• Embed inclusive processes across the employee lifecycle: Design policies that enable equal access to flexibility, learning, and career progression. Use structured recruitment panels, open internal advertising for promotions, and regular development conversations to ensure fairness at every stage.
• Measure, monitor, and report progress: Track gender representation and pay equity through regular reporting and set measurable targets for improvement. Use data to identify trends, celebrate progress, and hold leaders accountable for maintaining equality across all levels of the organisation.

Lyone concludes, “As leaders, we need to ask ourselves whether the structures we’ve created help everyone thrive equally. Equality is not a nice-to-have, it must sit at the heart of how we build culture, how we design policies, and how we measure success. Quiet inequity only disappears when leaders make noise about change and then act on it.”

For more information on COS, visit: https://www.cos.net.au/

COS is Australia’s largest family-owned and operated workplace supplies business, led by second-generation sisters, Co-CEOs Belinda and Amie Lyone. Founded in 1977 by the late Dominique Lyone, COS began as a small business with a vision for exceptional service and social responsibility. Over the past 45 years, COS has grown from a small business to a national operation with over 700 staff and warehouses in every state and territory. Every day, we deliver thousands of products to workplaces, schools, and hospitals across Australia, helping to keep them healthy, safe, and productive.

COS is proud to share that from January to June 2024, the company successfully achieved two major sustainability milestones: Net Zero Operations and 100% Renewable Electricity across all their facilities nationwide. While the company celebrate this progress, COS remains focused on maintaining and building upon these achievements for the long term. COS is also committed to giving back. Each year donating 1% of annual revenue to the Lyone Foundation, supporting local Australian charities focused on human welfare. Since 2013, COS contributed over $23M to the Lyone Foundation and helped more than 130 life-changing charities.