While that’s a slight improvement on the 13 such boards reported earlier this year, the number proves too many business leaders in Australia still do not get it.
It’s particularly astounding to see Flight Centre is still on this list, given it’s high percentage of female employees and the fact it’s a consumer-facing business.
The female-free zones are just the start of the board diversity problem across the ASX 200.
Sixty four boards on the ASX 200 still only have one female director. As Flight Centre found last year when it’s one female board director stepped down from the role, that can very quickly see them becoming female-free zones.
Disappointingly, the Australian Institute of Company Directors reports today that progress towards achieving its 30% female representation target across ASX 200 boards has stalled in recent months.
At the end of August, women held 25.4% of ASX 200 director positions, just a tiny improvement on the 25.3% achieved at the end of the 2016 (although a considerable improvement from the pathetic 8.3% reported in 2009).
AICD Chairman Elizabeth Proust AO hopes the latest figures serve as a “wake-up call to directors, investors and shareholders”.
She wants to see this AGM season better used to take action on achieving better gender diversity across Australian boards.
Recently, the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors and health industry fund HESTA pledged to vote against all-male boards.
As for those 11 boards with no women, it’s at least an improvement from last year when the number was 22.
The 11 female-free ASX 200 boards (as of 31 August 2017) are:
- CIMIC Group Limited
- TPG Telecom
- Mineral Resources Ltd
- Qube Holdings Ltd
- Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd
- ARB Corporation Ltd
- Evolution Mining Ltd
- Australian Agricultural Company Ltd
- Flight Centre Travel Group
- Speedcast International Ltd
- Investa Office Fund