Women now make up 22 per cent of ASX200 boards and only 22 of Australia's largest listed companies have failed to appoint a female director, according to a superannuation council.
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) found companies in the ASX200 with no women on boards were becoming an anomaly.
ACSI chief executive, Louise Davidson, said "for the first time, the number of ASX200 companies where women make up at least 30 per cent of their directors exceeds those boards with no women at all".
"This is a tipping point in board gender diversity, and it follows the first anniversary of ACSI's renewed push on the issue, when we called for 30 per cent women on all Australian boards by 2017," she said.
ACSI also found as at 7 March:
"The rise illustrates the fact that ,despite the tired old excuses, there's no shortage of appropriately skilled experienced and talented women for directorships," Davidson said.
"What's also increasingly clear is that those companies without any women directors are not just out of touch with community expectations, they're out of step with their business peers.
"Now that boards are getting the message, hopefully we will see a flow through impact to executive teams accessing the best possible talents by recruiting and promoting people form more diverse backgrounds."
If female school or university students volunteer for work experience in finance, organisations have a “duty” to offer it to them, according to a senior funds management executive.
New research from Aware Super on the occasion of Equal Pay Day reveals Australia’s 13 per cent gender pay gap will equate to a $93,000 deficit in women’s super balances compared to men at retirement.
With only 25% of women currently using a financial adviser and many lacking financial confidence, they are losing thousands in superannuation.
The significant difference in women’s average superannuation account balances, compared to their male counterparts, continues to concern industry professionals.
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