Westpac board takes gender hit as two female directors exit

Westpac’s board is losing half of its female directors, two days after the lender said they would stand for re-election.

Audette Exel will leave the Westpac board after a three-year stint. She is best known for founding the Adara Group.

Westpac’s gender diversity push has taken a hit at the boardroom level, with two of its four female directors to depart at short notice, days after the lender said they would seek re-election at the ­upcoming annual general ­meeting.

Westpac on Wednesday said that non-executive directors Nora Scheinkestel and Audette Exel would retire from the board, with Dr Scheinkestel, who chaired the bank’s remuneration committee and sat on its risk committee, leaving with immediate effect.

Ms Exel, who chairs Westpac’s risk committee, will not seek ­re-election at the company’s annual meeting, instead stepping down from the board on December 13.

She had chaired the board risk committee since 2022.

The update came two days after the bank, in its annual report, said Dr Scheinkestel and Ms Exel would seek re-election at the December meeting.

Both directors joined the Westpac board in 2021.

“I’ve been pleased to be part of Westpac’s turnaround over the past three years and will leave knowing the bank is now in a much stronger position as it embarks on its next stage,” Dr Scheinkestel said.

Westpac non-executive directors Audette Exel and Nora Scheinkestel will retire from the board.

“Having also made good progress on the company’s remuneration structure and approach, I’ve decided now is the right time to step aside,” she added.

Ms Exel said she was “proud to have been part of the Westpac board and to have stewarded risk transformation” as chair of the bank’s risk committee.

“It is now time for me to focus on building and growing the Adara Group and Adara Partners,” she added.

Adara Group is a global non-government organisation and social enterprise that funds health and education services, including maternal health, in rural communities in Nepal and Uganda.

New appointments to the board would be made in due course, Westpac said.

The director exits come days after outgoing chief executive Peter King handed down his final set of results, marking a full-year profit of $7bn for the big four bank.

His replacement, former business banking boss Anthony Miller, steps into the CEO role on December 16.

Mr King will be paid $7.9m in his final year.

Mr Miller will start in the top job with a fixed salary of $2.5m, as well as short and long-term bonuses worth a potential $5.85m.