Women on Boards Australia Celebrates 20 Years of Success

Women on Boards is celebrating its 20th Anniversary, starting this evening in Sydney, with its first of seven gala dinners across Australian cities. I will absolutely be in attendance and am so looking forward to hearing a range of inspiring success stories from members.

For two decades, Women on Boards has supported women to confidently and purposefully step into leadership and board roles, exercise influence and shape key decisions.

WOB is all about women supporting other women and so I’d love to repost a podcast interview I did with Claire Braund OAM, CEO of WOB in January, in which she shares a tremendous amount of practical value to help more women seek out Board roles earlier in their careers…

Tune in here:

Ep 217 – ‘How to Take On a Board Role Earlier In Your Career’ with guest Claire Braund OAM

Ep 215 – How to Take On a Board Role Earlier In Your Career, with guest Claire Braund OAM

#wob #womenonboards #boardroles #womeninleadership

Since launching in 2006, Women on Boards has had a significant impact on changing the gender balance on Australian boards and committees.

Twenty years ago there were fewer than 10% of roles on ASX200 boards held by women.

To increase the number of women on boards and in leadership roles, WOB set a goal to achieve deeper gender balance recommending a 40% women, 40% men and 20% of either, and/or other genders split.

WOB tracks this data with its Boardroom Gender Diversity Index. Which, since 2019, has expanded to include cultural and ethnic diversity within gender too.

WOB has made substantial progress.

AICD data (June 2025) tells us that within ASX 100 boards, women now hold 39.3% of director positions, in ASX 200, women hold 38.1% and in ASX 300, women hold 37.5% – essentially at WOB’s 40% benchmark. Australian Government boards have now moved beyond the original 40% female target: women’s representation on Australian Government boards increased from 33.4% in 2009 to 54.3% in 2025 (PM&C).