Reports & Research
Green shoots of change in Australian boardrooms
Are Australian corporate boards future proofing themselves? 30% Club Australia and Deloitte Australia investigate.
Who we are
The 30% Club Australia launched in May 2015 with the primary objective of campaigning for 30 per cent women on ASX 200 boards by the end 2018. Nicola Wakefield-Evans is the Country Lead and is working closely with the Steering Committee, our Ambassador Chairs and a number of Working Groups and valued supporters from around the country in promoting the benefits of diversity at all levels of business. In March 2019 the 30% Club announced a new objective for 30 per cent women on ASX 300 boards by the end of 2021. The 30% Club will continue to focus on the boards of ASX 200 companies that have not reached the 30 per cent target.
To support the achievement of a minimum of 30% Gender Balance at all senior decision-making tables across Australia, including Boards and c-Suite.
Activate
Activate senior leaders
Engage chairs and CEOs to drive change and support organisations in their diversity & inclusion endeavours, with a specific focus on gender.
Influence
Influence those with power to drive change
Influence at a national level on diversity related topics and working complementary to other national initiatives including Balance for Better Business, the State Boards Diversity Initiative.
Enable
Enabling future women leaders
Support the development of talent pipeline through mentoring, executive education scholarships and board-ready initiatives
By bringing together influential company chairs, directors, investors, head-hunters and CEOs, we want to drive a business-led approach to increasing gender balance that changes the way companies approach diversity issues.
Chapter progress
Australia is one of few countries that have achieved 30 per cent women on the boards of its largest companies – which now includes its top 300 companies – without mandated quotas or intervention. We know the work is far from done but the trajectory of change Australia has witnessed in its top companies over the past decade demonstrates that the approach Australia has taken – a business-led voluntary approach to targets – can work. Below shows how far Australia has progressed in the ASX 300 for gender diversity.
2018
2019
2020
2021
26.5%
28.2%
30%
32.1%
Steering Committee
The 30% Club is run by a Steering Committee that is made up of senior women who volunteer their time and skills.
Carolyn Kay
Non-Executive Director
Chair of the Investor Banking and Private Equity Working Group
Susan Roberts
Non-Executive Director
Chair of the Investor Working Group
Jane Neale
Managing Director and Founder HattonNeale
Chair of the Executive Search Firm Working Group
Juliet Bourke
Adjunct Profressor
Chair of the Education Working Group
Patricia Cross
Non-Executive Director
Founder 30% Club Australia
Nicola Wakefield Evans
Non-Executive Director
Chair 30% Club Australia
Australia News
News
Australia’s top 20 companies hit 40% women on board
Australia’s top 20 ranked companies made history in the second quarter of 2023, achieving an aggregate 40 per cent women on their boards.
Working Groups
The 30% Club complements and amplifies individual company efforts and existing groups through measurable goals and broad collaboration. The 30% Club Australia is run by a Steering Committee of senior business representatives that volunteer their time and skills.
Four Working Groups drive initiatives for the 30% Club Australia across sectors:
– Investors Working Group, Chaired by Susan Roberts
– Exec Search Working Group, Chaired by Jane Neale
– Investment Banking & Private Equity Working Group, Chaired by Carolyn Kay
– Education Working Group, Chaired by Juliet Bourke
Secretariat and Executive support for the 30% Club Australia is provided by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
The executive search working group is focused on how executive search consultants (ESCs) can promote emerging and current female directors and develop the systems, practices and processes that enable women to be appointed to boards. Individual members ensure diverse candidates are included on the long and shortlists provided to the chairs of the board and remuneration and nominations committees. The group is also committed to working with chairs and boards on succession planning and developing their network of female board aspirants.
The Executive Search Firm has representation from the following Search Firms in Australia:
- HattonNeale
- Gerard Daniels
- Mars Partners
- Derwent
- Russell Reynolds
- Heidrick and Struggles
- Spencer Stuart
- Stanton Chase
- Korn Ferry
The purpose of the Investors Group is to help coordinate the investment community’s approach to gender diversity. In particular, to explain the investment case for more diverse boards; to encourage all investors to engage on the issue of board diversity with chairs and management teams and to consider diversity when voting on the Report & Accounts and the appointment and re-election of board members.
Whilst we are strongly supportive of voluntary targets over quotas, we believe that it is important that investors actively oversee companies’ actions. We encourage investors to engage directly with companies in the first instance. However, we believe that, over time, this should extend to AGM voting in the event of inadequate board leadership.
We are calling for the investment community to follow the principles of the statement of intent and to use to investor toolkit in their conversations with Boards and CEOs.
1. Statement of Intent for Investors: which outlines the beliefs and objectives that the members of the 30% Club Investors Working Group have agreed to. We invite other fund managers and asset owners to pledge support to the principles in this Statement;
2. Investor toolkit for engaging board on diversity: this toolkit has been provided to help investors, and those representing them, more effectively engage with boards of directors on this important issue.
2018 Investor Annual Report: An update on the activities of 10 of the investors signed up to our Statement of Intent.
Contact
For more information please contact susan.roberts1970@icloud.com
The mission of the 30% Club Education Committee is to support the Global 30% Club’s mission of “at least 30% representation of all women on all boards and C-Suite globally” by generating, amplifying and disseminating credible and aligned research.
The Education Working Group has driven a number of research projects to drive the gender diversity conversation. These include:
- Barriers to progression Chair and NED reasons for not appointing female directors (2016)
- Leading by Example Interviews with ASX 200 Chairs with 30% females on their boards (2017)
- Shaping the boards of the future Succession planning, board evaluations and term limits (2018)
- The Next Generation Pathways ASX 200 board roles of the 2019 appointments (2018)
- Building gender diversity on ASX 300 boards Seven learnings from the ASX 200 on how to build greater gender diversity on boards (2020)
- Green shoots of change in the Boardoom Reviews the threads of the three-year journey from Bold Moves in the Boardroom to this year’s Green Shoots of Change series (2024).
Contact
For more information please contact julietbourke@outlook.com
The Investment Banking & Private Equity (IB&PE) group are focused on having an impact in ensuring female representation in the IPO space and on ASX boards generally, particularly in the following areas:
- Creating an appetite within the investment banking, private equity and professional services community for listing boards with at least one independent female non-executive director (i.e. not the founder/s and investors);
- Working with the Executive Search working group to identify emerging female directors and creating networks linked to the investment banking, private equity and professional services communities for these directors;
- Working with the Investor working group on approaching boards with low female director representation to advocate for change;
- Advising clients and people within investment banking, private equity and professional services organisations on their commitment to ensuring at least 30% female directors on the boards of the listed companies they are connected with.
For more information please contact carolyn@schk.com.au
Resources
Recruiting for Success: Diversity in the Boardroom (2019)
Investor toolkit for engaging board on diversity
Barriers to progression (2016)
Leading by Example (2017)
Shaping the boards of the future(2018)
The Next Generation (2018)
Building gender diversity on ASX 300 boards(2020)
Towards Board Gender Parity (2021)