The Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) is making female leadership and employment a major policy issue going forward, following the launch of its new membership program.

The national retail body last night launched its new agenda, Women In Retail, as a “must join” for retailers, suppliers, and consumer groups with female executives.

Margy Osmond, chief executive of ANRA, said Women In Retail will act as a voice for the hundreds of thousands of women employed in the Australian retail sector.

“We have a voice but it’s not being heard at the moment,” she said.

“Part of this program is about how we’ll activate that voice and then the next stage is how we’ll engage our members to talk about how to promote this as a career for women.”

Katie Page, CEO of Harvey Norman, said she’s proud of how many women are in top jobs within her company, but the Australian retail industry needs to do more to support female leadership.

“There are lots of parts of retail [such as digital, marketing, and personal assistants] that aren’t recognised. We can get out there and say this is a fantastic career for women.”

ANRA is launching research this week for Women In Retail, with it now urging its members, including the major department stores and supermarkets, to join the conversation.