Male-dominated boardrooms to end by 2018: Aussie Institute of Company Directors

Australian companies may have to employ equalization quotas in order to have a fairer female representation in boardrooms, according to a leading company director on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Proust, chairwoman of Bank of Melbourne and food company Nestle Australia, said that by 2018, more than 30 percent of boardroom positions should be filled by females, but they might need some help fighting through glass ceilings to get there.

Proust, who on Wednesday was appointed chair of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that quotas could be used fairly to ensure Australian companies "get with the times."

"Until recently the policy of the AICD has not been to support quotas, but we've softened that in recent times to say if we don't meet our target of 30 percent by 2019 that everything will be on the table, including quotas," she said on Wednesday.

Proust said it would save company directors a lot of embarrassment if they voluntarily encouraged a gender-balanced boardroom before the government steps in to make fairer representation mandatory.

"The message to companies is that if they don't act then it's likely to be government legislation which will mandate it and they'll have to do it," she said.

"It's always better to do these things of your own volition rather than having it forced on you by government."

Proust had not always been a supporter of quotas, however. She told the ABC that it was "sad" that equal representation had not come about naturally.

"When I started my career all those years ago I suspect the thought of having this conversation would be a sad event," she said.

"I thought we would have made much more progress, but there are still boards I've been on where I've been the only woman and in some cases boards with no women at all." Endit