From 1 July 2016, the Australian Government has committed to a gender diversity target of women holding 50 per cent of Government board positions overall, and women and men each holding at least 40 per cent of positions at the individual board level.

Mr Philip Higginson, CEO of ProNed Australia Pty Ltd said, Australian corporates have been slow to adopt the lead of the Australian Governments recommendation for woman to hold a minimum of 40% of board positions. However, it has been our observation that there has been an increased intent recently to seek a higher representation of woman on boards.

Australia is not alone in the slow implementation of gender equality in the board room. Germany's statutory gender quota for supervisory boards took effect in May 2015. But the ratio of women to men is alarmingly low and commentators noting that many companies seeming to not even to realise that the new law applies to them.

While women make up 46 per cent of Australias workforce, it is estimated that they make up less than 15 per cent of panelists in industry events across the country.

The average proportion of women on Government and public boards now sits at 49 per cent, a considerable jump from 39 per cent approximately six months ago. This supports ProNeds observation that there is a lift in gender balance in Australian board representation.

About ProNed Australia Pty Ltd

ProNed Australia is a leader in non-executive director search, board remuneration studies, non-executive remuneration surveys from which a 47 page report is produced. They hold non-executive candidate training programmes for aspirant directors looking for either their first or second board.

[ProNed Australia Pty Ltd](http://www.proned.com.au) can claim to possessing the richest history of any firm still doing business in 2017 within the field of Corporate Governance.