Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward told a Rockhampton audience that the 20% female population in academia was a reflection of a lot of employment areas in Australia.

Commissioner Goward delivered a free public address at CQU Rockhampton on Wednesday titled 'What women research and what we need to know'.

She expressed her concerns for ‘gender equality’ and spoke of the benefits of women in the workforce.

Commissioner Goward said paid maternity leave was one way workplaces could have a consistent workforce and save on the expenses of recruiting new staff.

She said she was an advocate for parents to be entitled to 12 months' paid paternity leave.

“Paid paternity leave reduces staff turn over and in the end reduces costs to the organisation”.

The Women in Research event was attended by high school and university students, interested community members and university staff.

Pru Goward became federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner in July 2001. Following the introduction of the Age Discrimination Act in 2004, she was also appointed Commissioner Responsible for Age Discrimination.

Commissioner Goward is an economist by training and a broadcaster by practice, having spent 19 years with ABC TV and Radio as a current affairs journalist and later as a political reporter and commentator.

She is well known for her efforts to promote a national scheme of paid maternity leave and a better balance of work and family.

Commissioner Goward is considered by both 'The Australian' and the 'Australian Financial Review' newspapers to be one of our most influential Australians. Her speeches and columns are widely reproduced in journals and books and in 2001 she was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to journalism and women's rights.

She has also co-written a biography of Prime Minister John Howard with her husband David Barnett and 'A Business of Your Own', a study of successful women in business.

Commissioner Goward is also Chair of the Council for Australian Arab Relations, chair of the Advisory Panel for the Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula and patron of the ANU’s Aussie Rules Football Club. She has three daughters.

Photo (above): Pru Goward (centre) with Women in Research president Jenny Anastasi, deputy president Margaret Rogers, secretary Jeni Richardson and treasurer Rebeka Freckleton.

Photo (below): Commissioner Goward with Rockhampton Girls Grammar Students (from left) Shahn Cooms, Jordyn Dixon and Stephanie Trost.