Assembly '97 News Home page Documents next story		Gender in balance Tuesday, July 8 ASSEMBLY will pursue gender balance for its committees and other groups after consensus was reached on the issue on Sunday afternoon. Membership of these groups will now comprise at least 40 per cent of both genders, except where there is a specific need for a majority of a particular gender. The Commission for Women and Men was given as an example of this scenario. However, one clause — allowing for exemption from the quota system when "insufficient nominations" of either gender are received — was removed from the proposal. This change achieved consensus by agreement after Malcolm Gledhill (NSW) suggested Assembly would re-open nominations if it ever found that initial nominations for a group's membership would inhibit gender balance. The ballot committee will report on the proposal's implications for election procedures no later than session 21.