This week on The World Today, the ABC cover the story about the proposed new guidelines from the ASX to address the issue of gender equality in board and senior positions. You can listen to the interview or read the transcript for ‘ASX sets sights on gender inequality’ online.
The story covers the fact that – of the top 200 companies – only 8% of board members were female, while almost 50% of boards had no women at all. The proposed guidelines also look to increase the number of women in both executive and senior management roles. Eleanor Hall says that “The rules are intended to boost the number of female executives in Australian companies and the Federal Sex Discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick says it will, for the first time, allow Australians to see what companies are doing to achieve gender equity.”
It is suggested that if this first step proposed by the ASX does not achieve the desired results, the next step would be to consider quotas. A landmark survey by Women on Boards has shown that over 50% support legislated gender quotas for ASX company boards. As the article cites, “With only 58% of women working in Australia – compared with 80% in countries such as Norway – the failure to use all of our productive human capital is a major issue for business, the government and the economy.”
Share your views on the new ASX diversity guidelines and on having gender quota’s in the boardroom.
