The latest Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Gender Diversity Report has found that as at the end of September 2019, the percentage of women on ASX 200 boards had gone backwards, falling from 29.7% at the end of 2018 to 29.5%.

Some Key Findings

• Since 2015, when the 30% female board representation target for ASX 200 companies was first implemented, gender diversity has increased by 10%.  However, the target of 30% has not yet been reached with the percentage of women on ASX 200 boards at 29.5%.
• The rate at which women are being appointed to boards fell from 45% in 2018 to 31.7% in 2019.
• The number of all male boards in the ASX 200 also increased in 2019 to seven.

The larger the company the more gender diverse the board

• Female representation on ASX 20 boards stands at 35.1%, decreasing to 33% on ASX 50 boards, 31.5% for ASX 100 boards and 29.5% for ASX 200 boards.
• In the ASX 300 the overall percentage of female directors on the boards of the 299 companies currently in the ASX 300 index is 27.2%. The percentage of female directors on the boards on the 99 companies that only feature in the ASX 300 (ie the group of companies that do not feature in both the ASX 200 and ASX 300 indexes) is 21.3% (or 125 female directors of a total of 588). The AICD writes that the Chairs of these 99 companies will soon be sent a letter from the AICD and the 30% Club inviting them to become Chair members of the 30% Club and commit to ensuring at least 30 per cent female directors on their boards by the end of 2021. 

New listings?

Analysis of 2018 IPOs in terms of the number of female versus male directors on each companies’ board identified that of the 107 companies that listed in 2018, only four companies had a female CEO (4.5%) and five (4.8%), a female Chair. Further, female directors only accounted for 16.6% of the total number of directors appointed to these boards.

A 'wakeup call' for boards

Commenting on the result, AICD CEO and Managing Director Angus Armour said that the results are 'a wake-up call to directors, investors and shareholders across the ASX 200'.

Mr Armour went on to say that given there is no lack of talented and experienced prospective female directors available, it is up to boards to challenge themselves to understand and address barriers to making progress on the issue. 'The business community will continue to experience low levels of trust from the community until it demonstrates it is capable of addressing this issue. The community rightly expects leadership' Mr Armour added.

[Sources: AICD media release 31/10/2019;  AICD Gender Diversity Progress Report July to September 2019; [registration required] The AFR 31/10/2019]