Almost half of the Australian workforce is women, however, as noted by the Aviation White Paper, around two-thirds of people employed in the aviation sector are men. Within pilots, the percentage of women is reported as anywhere between 4 percent and 10 percent. Further, those professions with the greatest gender imbalances often have the greatest skill shortages.

As a professional Association, AIPA strongly supports measures promoting growth in the numbers of women entering aviation professions. We agree that this is essential to the long-term strength and resilience of both the pilot workforce and Australia's aviation industry more broadly.

AIPA welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Draft Gender Equity Charter for Australian Aviation (the Charter) and believe it is an important step towards addressing some of the barriers to attracting women into our industry.

AIPA proposes that the Charter could benefit from including two additional principles:

• Continuous identification of the barriers to the recruitment and retention of women in each organisation
• The development and implementation of equitable processes which seek to address the barriers to recruitment and retention of women in each organisation

In February 2026, AIPA were pleased to announce a partnership with the Australian Women Pilots' Association (AWPA) for its National Conference and Annual General Meeting. We share the common goals of support and advocacy for pilots and their careers.

The AWPA have also submitted comments on the Charter and we particularly support the following recommendations:

• A tiered implementation framework that distinguishes between large, medium and small operators, with proportionate but meaningful obligations at each level
• An additional principle addressing career re-entry and flexible pathways
• An intersectional lens to include First Nations women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and women with disabilities
• Recognition of professional associations as affiliates or supporting partners as distinct from employer signatories

AIPA also recognises the value in AWPA's continued involvement in the design, implementation and ongoing evaluation of the Charter. AWPA provides an important and effective link to the pipeline of women who form the human element of this project.

We look forward to the finalisation of the Gender Equity Charter for Australian Aviation so that AIPA can be an affiliate signatory and engage with other signatories to continue the work towards gender equity.

CLICK HERE to Read Submission to Gender Equity Charter for Australian Aviation.