Gender bias is holding back Australia’s innovation economy
Published on the 01 June 2026 by Sarah Goulding, CSI UNSW Fellow, and Wendy Fergie
Australia is investing heavily in productivity and innovation transformation. But who has access to that investment? And who is left out?
In a new report, CSI UNSW Industry Fellow Sarah Goulding and co-author Wendy Fergie examine the 2026 Federal Budget through a gender lens, focusing on economic productivity and business innovation.
Their analysis points to entrenched gender bias across Australia that is holding back women entrepreneurs. Whilst female-led businesses are growing and delivering returns, all-women founding teams only receive two per cent of venture capital funding in Australia.
For Goulding and Fergie, this is not a pipeline problem but a systems issue. The report makes a case that fixing the system could deliver significant economic, productivity and equality gains for the nation.
Find out more on:
- reviewing government innovation and financing programs to identify gender disparities in access and outcomes;
- establishing an Inclusive Australia Fund within the National Reconstruction Fund to incentivise investment in diverse women-led businesses;
- supporting gender-lens investing data standards to improve transparency, including creating a national public dashboard to track progress.