Female board representation up to 10%

The number of women being appointed to ASX 200 boards continues to grow, with the proportion of female directors of Australia's top listed companies now close to 10 per cent, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

So far in 2010, 31 women have been appointed to ASX 200 boards, compared to only ten for the whole of last year.

27 per cent of all ASX 200 board appointees this year have been female, compared to just 5 per cent in 2009 and 8 per cent in 2007 and 2008.

These appointments have seen the percentage of women on ASX 200 boards increase to 9.8 per cent, up significantly from 8.3 per cent at the beginning of this year.

The figures have been collated by the Australian Institute of Company Directors based on analysis of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) data.

Since the Australian Institute of Company Directors last released figures on 25 June, another seven women have been appointed to ASX company boards.

These include Vanessa Wallace who was appointed a non-executive director of Wesfarmers and Fiona Harris who was appointed a non-executive director of Sundance Resources.

"As far as we are aware, the 9.8 per cent figure recorded this week for the proportion of women on ASX 200 boards is the highest the percentage has ever been in Australia" said the chief executive officer of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, John Colvin.

"We have already seen this year more than three times the number of women appointed than for the whole of the 2009 calendar year."

"This, and the fact that 27 per cent of board appointments this year have been women, shows that real progress is being made on this important issue."

"However, despite this welcome increase, we still have a long way to go," he said.