Credit Unions fall short

15/10/2020
As part of our 2020 Board Gender Diversity Index (BGDI), Women on Board (WOB) measured 86 entities listed as Australian Deposit Taking Institutions (ADTI) - Credit Unions / Building Societies / Banks. There was a small increase in the number of women on boards in 2020 to 31.3%, however in general the progress in this sector is not encouraging, particulalry for a recalcitrant group of five Credit Unions who have no female board members.
 
Of the 86 ADTI entities measured in 2020, there were 37 who had fewer than 30% women on their boards and four (Northern Inland Credit Union, Central West Credit Union, Dnister Ukrainian Credit Co-operative and Lysaght Credit Union Ltd) with no women on their boards.

Sector in Focus – Credit Unions / Building Societies

In summary, of the 86 entities listed as Australian Deposit Taking Institutions:
  • 639 total directors
  • 200 female directors (31.30%)
  • Five with no female board members - BNK Banking Corporation Ltd (trading as Goldfields Money Ltd), Central West Credit Union Limited, Dnister Ukrainian Credit Co-operative Limited, Lysaght Credit Union Ltd, Northern Inland Credit Union Ltd
Conducting research into the Northern Inland Credit Union and Central West Credit Union, WOB discovered that these organisations do not contain profiles of board members on the website, requiring a reading of their 2019 Annual Report.

Directors on the Northern Inland Credit Union - profession and tenure

  1. Robert James Studte (Chair), Accountant, appointed 2005
  2. Barry Edward Pratten, Grazier, appointed 1993
  3. John Cooke, Retired builder, appointed 1998
  4. Robert John Carrington, Accountant, appointed 2000
  5. Geoffrey William Harris, Retired CEO of Northern Inland Credit Union Ltd , appointed 2004
  6. Charles Joseph McCarthy, Accountant, appointed 2006
  7. Wayne Austin Riggien, solicitor, appointed 2009
  8. David Michael Winnick,  Business Manager, appointed 2014
  9. Graham Russell Goodman, Retired, appointed 2016
The average tenure as at 30 June 2019 was 14 years and the total salary for directors in 2019 year was $236,664

Directors on the Central West Credit Union - profession, tenure and age

  1. C.L. Berry, farmer, retired engineer, director for 27 years, aged 71 (Chair)
  2. A.J. Howe, financial analyst, director for 12 years, aged 40
  3. S.M. Harwood, director of freight Transport NSW, director for 11 years, aged 37
  4. P.D. Norris, retired, Director for 25 years, aged 65
  5. P.N. Scholefield, farmer, director for 24 years, aged 76
  6. R.F. Staples, consultant, director for 19 years, aged 66
  7. G.M Dean, Shared Services Delivery manager Transport NSW, director for 9 years, aged 58
Average tenure as at 30 June 2019 was 18 years, average age as at 30 June 2019 was 59 and the total salary for directors in 2019 year was $149,000 ($21,285 if averaged).

2020 Gender Board Diversity Index data
Australian Deposit Taking Institutions - data
 
Latest newsRSS