ASX1-300
The ASX has continued its slow upward trajectory with the ASX100, ASX200 and ASX300 all showing an increase of around five percent.
- The ASX100 has moved to within a whisker of 30% with TPG Telecom the only outlier when it comes to no female representation on its board. There are 17% of companies in the ASX100 that meet or exceed the 40% target.
- The ASX200 has 26.7% of directorships held by women, with 30 companies meeting or exceeding the 40% target. Ten companies still have not managed to find a female director, nine years after gender was included as a key criteria for best practice governance in the Australian Corporate Governance Guidelines.
- The ASX201-300 remains below 20% with 68% of companies unable to find a female director or else only able to find one woman.
Government
There has been a massive shift in the number of women on government boards in Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania - all states with hard targets for at least two years. Western Australia is showing marked improvement, but it will take time for the effect of its policy shift to targets to take place. NSW is marking time and remains in the low 30% range; interestingly this state was also the least transparent when it came to sourcing data for the 2018 BDI.
Superannuation Funds
The superannuation sector has seen improvements across all but one of the five sectors. Corporate funds rose by more than seven per cent to 31.7% whgile retails and ERF funds remained the top performers at more than 35% female trustees. Public sector funds saw a reduction in the number of female trustees, falling below 30% while industry funds continued slow growth to a touch over 30%.
Sports Organisations
National Sporting Organisations remainded stubbornly below the 40% target set in 2012 by the Australian Sports Commission, while in club land only the AFL is kicking any real goals when it comes to women on boards.