30% women on boards target on track

The latest Gender diversity progress report released on International Women’s Day 2017 confirms that the AICD’s target of 30 per cent women on ASX 200 boards is on track to be met by the end of 2018.

The Gender diversity progress report for the period December – January 2017 confirms that women now account for 25 per cent of ASX 200 board positions, up from 8.3 per cent in 2009 when the AICD began reporting on gender diversity.

The ASX top 20 is leading the way, with 31.1 per cent women, and the ASX 50 is close to reaching the target with 29.2 per cent women.

AICD Managing Director & CEO John Brogden said that while the increase in companies with at least 30% women was great news, the ASX 50-200 companies needed to significantly improve the appointment rate of women to their boards.

“While it’s great to see that there are more companies than ever with at least one woman on their board, and that far more ASX 200 companies have reached the 30% target, we clearly need to maintain our focus on improving gender diversity on Australian boards,” Brogden said.

The latest report includes a full list of ASX 200 companies with the number of women on their boards, diversity statistics from the region, and the following articles:

• ‘Let’s talk about quotas’ by Janelle Weissman, Executive Director of UN Women
• ‘Advancing Women: Eliminating bias in feedback and promotions’ by Melanie Sanders, Partner, Head of Bain’s Consumer Products and Retail practice for Australia and New Zealand, Bain & Company
• ‘Femeconomy: A new way to create gender equality’ by Jade Collins and Alanna Bastin-Byrne, co-founders of Femeconomy.com
• ‘Driving gender equality through Philanthropy and social investment’, Julie Reilly, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Women Donors Network
• ‘Helping employees contribute to boards’, Jane Edwards, Director of PwC On Board, Board and Advisory Appointments, PwC Australia

Download 30% by 2018: Gender diversity progress report for December - February 2017