Given the widespread acceptance of the Law Council of Australia Equitable Briefing Policy, the TMA recommends that firms and organisations working in insolvency, restructuring and turnaround adopt the TMA Voluntary Code for Equitable Insolvency & Restructuring Appointments (EIRA) launched at the TMA National Conference on 11 September 2024. Firms or organisations that sign up will have their logo included on the TMA website.
The EIRA is proposed as part of a suite of initiatives by the TMA using generous sponsorship from Houlihan Lokey intended to increase the engagement and retention of women in restructuring and turnaround.
Read more about the code – here
Sign up to the code – here
In their July 2023 report, the Parliamentary Joint Committee into Corporate Insolvency said:
8.26 While many other industries and professions have managed to improve diversity among their ranks, registered liquidators appear to have been locked in a time capsule that was buried years ago.
8.27 The fact that female representation amongst registered liquidators has improved to one in ten over the past decade is alarming. It appears that we are not alone in facing this issue. There are clearly broader cultural or systemic issues at play, and they must be reflected on and addressed.
Why this matters
In too many recent large or high-profile formal insolvencies with 3 or more appointees, the insolvency practitioners appointed as external administrators or receivers have been all male. It is trite to say that “you can’t be what you can’t see”: we need to show emerging women that there are career paths for them, and the appointment of registered liquidators (particularly on larger voluntary administrations) is very public.
We also need to ensure that we support the careers of women in all parts of the restructuring and turnaround universe (including accounting, legal, advisory, capital providers and trustee services) to have sustainable “partner level” (or the equivalent in their organisations) practices in due course, so that they can in turn succeed and bring more women through. Registered liquidators, on larger formal appointments, give out a lot of work to adjacent professionals including lawyers, valuers, experts, trustee services and the like, and more women registered liquidators being appointed will mean more work for women in the rest of the restructuring and turnaround ecosystem.
Why is the TMA doing this?
Of course a lot of restructures are achieved through a formal insolvency process. Our membership includes a significant number of registered liquidators, and those who would seek to become registered liquidators. Four of our national board are registered liquidators as well as many members of our state committees. Our membership includes people who were registered liquidators and have ultimately moved to different roles within the broader restructuring and turnaround ecosystem.
Younger women members at TMA Network of Women (NOW) dinners raise with us the deterrents to them becoming registered liquidators and to building sustainable careers in restructuring and turnaround.
Female Registered Liquidators from TMA Australia firms
(as at September 2024)
New South Wales
Kate Barnet, Olvera Advisory
Amanda Coneyworth, KPMG
Kate Conneely, Cor Cordis
Gayle Dickerson, KPMG
Robyn Duggan, EY
Kathryn Evans, FTI
Lisa Gibb, Grant Thornton
Melissa Humann, PwC
Jenny Nettleton, KordaMentha
Kathy Sozou, McGrathNicol
Martie Tziotis, EY
Jessie Wang, Wexted
Erica Xu, Grant Thornton
Western Australia
Clare Baily, EY
Linda Smith, McGrathNicol
Victoria
Rachel Burdett, Cor Cordis
Leanne Chesser, KordaMentha
Rebecca Gill, PwC
Luci Palaghia, Deloitte
Emily Seeckts, KPMG
Kate Warwick, FTI Consulting
Lara Wiggins, KordaMentha
Queensland
Joanne Dunn, FTI
Mahala Hazell, PwC
Helen Newman, BDO
Kelly-Anne Trenfield, FTI
