Female board appointments spike
The percentage of female appointments to ASX 200 boards has soared in 2018, according to a report released on International Women’s Day by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
The report showed that women accounted for 47 per cent of ASX 200 board appointments in the first two months of 2018, up from 36 per cent the previous year.
The number of ASX 200 companies with no women on the board now stands at five, down from 14 this time last year, and 74 companies have reached or exceeded the AICD’s target of 30 per cent female representation across ASX boards.
AICD chairman, Elizabeth Proust, said the report was encouraging, but was only reflective of the first two months of 2018, and companies would need to sustain momentum of this kind in order to reach the 30 per cent representation target across the ASX 200 by the end of the year.
“The boards of our largest companies have 10 months to prove to the community that they take the issue of gender diversity seriously,” said Proust. “Greater diversity on boards is vital to the future of good governance in Australia.”
Proust said diverse boards and leadership teams lead to better outcomes for shareholders as well as greater innovation and better bottom lines, and challenged directors to seek greater diversity across their tables.
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