One in five people in Australia has a disability, however, this number is far from represented at executive and board-level positions.
Low awareness, confidence, and capability of directors to welcome and include people with disability on Boards; along with less opportunities for leaders with disability to access learning and networking, are the main cause of this discrepancy.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), in partnership with Australian Network on Disability encourage leaders with disability to apply for a new round of governance education scholarships, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
In this round, 100 full-fee scholarships are on offer to undertake either:
• The AICD Company Directors Course
• The AICD Foundations of Directorship Program
• The AICD Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors (face to face only).
This is the second round of scholarships supporting leaders with disability. 2022 recipient of the Disability Leadership Program scholarship, Joshua Morley, incoming President of the Rotary of Elizabeth Quay in Western Australia and National Practice Lead Director, IOT & Digital Twins shared on receiving his scholarship, “I’m looking forward to learning more about risk, governance and the financial components of directorship, as well as the connections I will build with other directors.”
Each scholarship also includes a one-year membership to the AICD and a subscription to the AICD’s Directorship Opportunities service.
From this scholarship round, 25 Company Directors Course scholarship winners will also be invited to participate in Leader-to-Leader Conversations. Australian Network on Disability will facilitate these conversations between scholarship recipients and established directors in order to further maximise career opportunities and build disability confidence in the boardroom.
Read full details on the Disability Leadership Scholarship for 2023 here.
For further details refer to the media release here.
