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There has long been a notion in popular culture that the boards of major Australian companies are dominated by men, largely of Anglo-Celtic origin.
And while the data shows there is still much truth to this assumption, a number of women from diverse cultural backgrounds are challenging these institutions to better reflect Australia’s multicultural landscape.
The inaugural Citizens’ Day breakfast hosted by the Women on Boards organization brought together a number of business leaders who are working to break down these historic barriers.
Koon Lai is a Malaysian-Chinese executive coach with over 20 years of leadership experience, including as Transformation Program Director at PwC.
She says boards are a microcosm of the country and leaders have an obligation to represent modern Australia at that highest level.
“The way multiculturalism is perceived in Australia, whether as a threat to the country or as an asset to the country, sets the tone in terms of the sense of belonging for all Australians, whether they move towards division or cohesion. And boards of directors are a microcosm. “
2024 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show more than 30 per cent of Australians were born overseas and the latest census showed just 54 per cent of Australians now claim an Anglo-Celtic origin.
This stands in stark contrast to the demographics seen on most corporate boards.
The 2024 Board Diversity Index from Watermark Search International and the Governance Institute of Australia shows that 91% of all directors at the 300 largest companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange are people of Anglo-Celtic heritage.
This led the index to label the ASX 300 cards as “the whitest shade of pale”.
Lai says a large part of the problem is that companies often draw from an exclusive pool of candidates to which culturally diverse women have limited access.
“So they’re either people who have the responsibility to interact with board members, so usually they’re P&L owners. Then there’s also people that you know who can recommend you. And then the third is executive search. P&L owners or In this context, 95 percent are predominantly Anglo-European So there is a very small group of people of non-Anglo-European origin. obstacle where there’s this kind of systemic filter of difficulty in getting the access to the opportunity to get into board positions and then when you’re there, you’re one and only, and that makes it very difficult. for you to be able to bring your perspective and really get that diversity of thought.”
These barriers remain despite significant progress in gender equality on corporate boards, with women’s representation increasing by 89 percent since 2015, and now standing at 36 percent.
Claire Braund is currently President of the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music and co-founder of Women on Boards.
She says the organization celebrates this significant increase in female business leaders, but is now focused on advocating for women who still rarely have this opportunity.
“So our goal has always been to get to a 40-40-20 split. So 40 percent men, 40 percent women, 20 percent either gender. And we felt that since 2006, we had made huge progress. So once that was done, what we thought we would do is look at some of the intersectionality within gender. have started, we never wanted to replace what was largely an old white boys club with a new white girls club. And we thought what we really needed to do was start changing the game. to move the needle on the number of culturally diverse women on corporate boards.
The latest index shows the number of First Nations directors in the ASX 300 remains at just four, or 0.2 per cent.
This figure is well below the 3% of the Australian population made up by First Nations people.
Nareen Young, associate dean at UTS Business School and head of the Jumbunna Institute’s Indigenous Peoples and Labor Research and Practice Centre, says much of this is due to structural racism.
“I am often the only First Nations and culturally diverse person in a room. Clearly, the lack of any form of diversity beyond gender on Australian boards is symbolic of the structural racism that exists. Why aren’t First Nations, culturally diverse, disabled, LGBTIQA+ people good enough, competent enough to be elected to boards of directors? Well, we actually are, so why aren’t we? we not selected? so that’s the problem and that’s what we need to discuss.
She says the lack of board roles for First Nations people, particularly women, comes from a false perception that they are not equipped for the job.
“The perception is that we simply can’t do this job or that we don’t have the experience, education or intelligence. And so the responsibility of the people who are first and who will be scrutinized in each of their movements is huge. So it’s a matter of people making choices, opening their minds to possibilities rather than the other way around.
Maryam Zahid is an award-winning Afghan-Australian human rights champion with over 23 years of experience in the community sector.
She says that when women like her are given the opportunity to serve on a board, they are often not expected to perform the same functions as other members.
“If we get the opportunity, and I was fortunate enough to be on the boards, it was basically a conversation around your cultural background, cultural events and community expectations. Not about the governance, not on policy, not on strategic planning So it really challenged me to challenge the system and some of the organizations that I served on the board and I even had to resign from some of those places because. that it didn’t make me feel that I was contributing. I felt like I was wasting my time and their time too.
Executive coach Koon Lai says that when businesses and organizations go beyond rhetoric to truly reflect the multicultural landscape in their leadership, it can increase community trust.
“The more we see that representation in organizations that represent women, the more when the community can see themselves in the leaders of those organizations, there’s a lot more confidence and authenticity that comes with it. So you can’t say , right? , we’re all about diversity, but from a representation perspective, it’s still consistent. It’s great to see women on boards leading by example. . What does this look like in terms of enlargement? of the notion of diversity and intersectionality of diversity?
