More women joining company boards: Australian Institute of Company Directors

More than half the boards of ASX 200 companies now have 30 per cent women directors.

More than half the boards of ASX 200 companies now have 30 per cent women directors.

More than half the boards of ASX 200 companies now have 30 per cent women directors, with almost all the ASX top 20 companies having 30 per cent women on boards, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

The report shows that despite the pressures of COVID-19, leading ASX companies have increased their appointment of women directors this year, with the number of women directors of ASX 200 companies going up from 30 per cent last year to 32 per cent this quarter.

“I’m glass half full on this,” AICD chief executive Angus Armour told The Australian, releasing the report.

“We have seen the number of women on boards go up by two percentage points this year.

“One hundred and thirteen ASX 200 companies have reached the target of 30 per cent and another 76 ASX 200 boards are just one appointment away from the target.”

Mr Armour said while it appeared earlier in the year that there was a risk the pandemic might divert boards from their commitment to diversity, it now appeared that the momentum towards achieving the target of having 30 per cent women on boards had been maintained.

“I am encouraged by the past year,” he said.

“The ASX 200 community has absorbed the research and considers diversity as a strength,” he said.

Mr Armour said the appointment of more women on boards followed the development of a “pipeline” of candidates through programs such as the AICD chair mentoring program.

“We graduated a class of 45 women through our latest program last week and we continue to invest in developing director talent,” he said.

The report shows that 19 of the ASX 20 companies have reached their target of having 30 per cent female directors.

But two ASX 200 companies — Silver Lake Resources and Perseus Mining — still have no women on their boards, and 27 only have one female board member.

There are only 20 women chairs of ASX 200 companies.

The report shows that female representation on the boards of ASX 300 companies has also increased by two percentage points over the year to 29.6 per cent.

Mr Armour said he was confident that the ASX 300 companies would reach the target of having 30 per cent women “in the near future.”

“These numbers are particularly pleasing given not only the huge disruptions caused by COVID-19 this year, but also the disproportionate impact on women from the pandemic.

“Now, more than ever, the representation of women in leadership if critical to ensure an effective post-COVID-19 recovery,” he said.

Mr Armour said the investor community in Australia had “made it clear” that diversity was an important consideration for them in assessing companies.

Nicola Wakefield Evans, company director and chair of the 30 per cent Club Australian chapter, said that while the representation of women on boards was increasing there had been a “significant failing of efforts” to increase the number of women in the senior leadership of companies.

Only 5 per cent of ASX 200 chief executives were women, with few women in the line responsibility “talent pipelines” which lead to CEO roles.

“These statistics highlight an imminent threat to the continued pipeline of women on boards,” she said.