New Voices Push for Diversity on Australian Boards

More and more voices are calling for pushing harder for greater diversity in Australian boardrooms. Add Andrea Staines, former CEO of Australian Airlines, to the list, as well as the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee, which advises the Australian government on issues of corporate law.

Ann-Maree Moodie, managing director of The Boardroom Consulting Group, drew attention in the Sydney Morning Herald to the growing chorus of voices following the Diversity on Boards Conference in Sydney organised by Women on Boards.

Australia trails most leading developed economies in the number of women on boards of major companies, at 8.3%, down from 8.7% the previous year. The EU rates is 9.7%, including 11.5% in the UK, while the US figure is 15.2%.

Staines, who is a director at Australian Rail Track Corporation and Gladstone Ports Corporation, said the ASX’s Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations could be used to ‘‘make a point about creating a board with a diverse composition’‘, Moodie wrote. Staines added, ‘‘If you don’t comply with the Principles as a public company you have to explain why not. Perhaps then companies would have to think about it more and have to comment in a ‘if not, why not’ format.’‘

Before the conference, CAMAC, in a report quite critical of how directors are selected at top Australian companies, recommended that the ASX Corporate Governance Council form guidelines on increasing women’s representation.

Staines did address problems with increasing diversity on boards and urged patience. ‘‘Positions on boards only become available rarely because, unlike an executive role, the position doesn’t have to be filled immediately unless the board can’t meet its quorum. So the urgency to fill a position isn’t there, and there is a long gestation period.”