Treatment of AMP chair Brenner was sexist, Proust says

Elizabeth Proust has reiterated that the treatment of former AMP chairman Catherine Brenner was “sexist”.

Catherine Brenner was treated in a sexist way says Elizabeth Proust

Elizabeth Proust has reiterated her belief the treatment of former AMP chairman Catherine Brenner, which led to her leaving the company earlier this year, was “sexist”.

“I think it was,’’ she said.

“Male and female journalists talked about what she was wearing, did she spend enough time with her family. It was all said through a gender lens.”

MORE: Talented people will shun serving on listed company boards as the risks of being a director increase, Elizabeth Proust says.

Ms Brenner and AMP CEO Craig Meller resigned from the company after the Hayne royal commission revealed AMP had charged clients fees, despite providing no services.

The inquiry also revealed attempts by AMP to interfere with an independent report into the scandal being prepared for the corporate regulator.

The widespread public criticism of Ms Brenner and her qualifications for the AMP chairmanship led Chief Executive Women president Kathryn Fagg to claim criticism of female directors was “harsh, unfair and sensationalist”.

Ms Fagg, chairman of Boral and a former RBA director, also said the criticism of Ms Brenner was “sexist”.

When Ms Proust took up her role as AICD chairman, the peak director body’s own statistics showed the ASX 200 only had 20.6 per cent female representation on its boards. That number had risen to 28.5 per cent by the end of August.

“As we were moving towards 30 per cent, at some stage there was going to be backlash. What I think crystallised with AMP and the royal commission is people felt they had a licence to be overt about those sentiments,’’ Ms Proust said, before musing about some prospective male directors who had asked — tongue in cheek — if they needed to wear a skirt to their interview.

She said the momentum of female appointments dropped after the Brenner scandal but had since picked up again.

“We will be close to 30 per cent in the new year. And all of the ASX100 companies have reached 30 per cent,’’ she said.

She said the boardroom scandals of 2018 had confirmed the days of the so-called “lifestyle” director were over.

She said her key advice to aspiring female board directors was to complete a strong executive career before seeking non-executive director positions.

“I always err on the side of urging people to stay where they are and get more experience. You can leave executive life too soon,” she said.