Elizabeth Proust

SuperFriend, the national workplace mental health and wellbeing organisation, has appointed leading business figure Elizabeth Proust as the new Chairperson to its Board of Directors.

Bringing over 30 years’ experience in leadership roles across private and public sectors in Australia, Ms Proust has an outstanding record of change management programs in large and diverse organisations.

With eight years’ experience with the ANZ Banking group, including four years as Managing Director of Esanda (ANZ’s asset finance company), Ms Proust has demonstrated an exceptional ability to turn around organisations, making major changes and efficiencies, while delivering customer services.  In this role, Ms Proust was a member of the ANZ Management Board, and ANZ’s most senior woman.

She has prior board experience as the Chairperson of a Federal Government Statutory Authority, and as a Director of various publicly listed companies.  Ms Proust was also made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2010 for her service to the community through contributions to the arts, charities, and educational bodies.

SuperFriend Chief Executive Margo Lydon said SuperFriend was delighted to announce Ms Proust’s appointment, acknowledging that her extensive leadership and business experience provides her with excellent insights for SuperFriend’s continued evolution.

“We are excited to welcome Elizabeth as our new chairperson, she has a rich history of work in charitable, university and business boards, giving her a unique perspective on SuperFriend’s policies and initiatives to improve mental health in Australian workplaces.”

“With such a vast industry experience, Elizabeth has established herself a dynamic leader with strong strategic skills who has a successful track record for change management programs in diverse organisations.” Ms Lydon added.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Proust said: “I am greatly looking forward to working with SuperFriend to help improve the mental health and safety of Australian workplaces, through implementing accessible initiatives and policies to create thriving environments for all people”.

Ms Proust will take over from Cbus Chief Executive David Atkin who served as the SuperFriend Chairman for over three years.

“SuperFriend and Cbus will continue to have a close relationship and we thank David for his outstanding contribution to our continued growth and success. We wish David the very best in his next career step and look forward to seeing what he does next,” Ms Lydon concluded.

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Elizabeth Proust AO

30% Club and AICD release thought provoking video showing the type of questions female board candidates are still being asked in interviews.

The percentage of female appointments to ASX 200 boards has spiked in 2018, according to a new report released on International Women’s Day by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Women accounted for 47% of ASX 200 board appointments in the first two months of 2018, up from a sluggish 36% in 2017.

The AICD’s Quarterly Gender Diversity Report, which tracks progress towards the Institute’s target of achieving 30% female representation across ASX 200 boards by the end of 2018, also reveals that women now account for 26.7% of ASX 200 directorships.

The report shows that the number of ASX 200 companies which have no women around the board table now stands at only five, down from 14 last International Women’s Day.

Across the ASX 200, a total of 74 companies have reached or exceeded the 30% target.

AICD Chairman Elizabeth Proust AO cautiously welcomed today’s results.

“Today’s report reveals that 2018 has seen the highest rate of female appointments to ASX 200 boards since the AICD began tracking gender diversity statistics,” she said.

“While this news is encouraging, it is only reflective of the first two months of 2018. We’ll need sustained momentum of this kind if we are to reach our goal of 30% female representation across the ASX 200 by the end of the year.

“The boards of our largest companies have 10 months to prove to the community that they take the issue of gender diversity seriously.

“Greater diversity on boards is vital to the future of good governance in Australia.

“Diverse boards and leadership teams lead to better outcomes for shareholders and stakeholders alike. They lead to greater innovation and better bottom lines.

“This International Women’s Day, our challenge to directors is to look around your board table and ask yourself – how diverse is this group of people? Are you putting your organisation in the best possible position for the future with the team you have?”

To coincide with International Women’s Day, the 30% Club and AICD has released a video showing the type of questions female board candidates are still being asked in interviews. Watch the video.

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Elizabeth Proust AO

Increased gender diversity on boards leads to better performance for corporates, not only from a pure financial sense but also in terms of managing key indicators of longer term wealth creation like customer satisfaction, and building a robust employee and corporate culture.

However, despite the evidence, there are 13 Boards in the ASX 200 that have no women on their boards, and 65 companies with only one female director, notes Patricia Cross, 30% Club Chairman on the second year anniversary of launching this initiative in Australia.

The 30% Club is a group of chairs, directors and business leaders taking action to increase gender diversity on Australian boards. The group has set an ambitious goal of ensuring that women account for at least 30 per cent of all directors on ASX 200 boards by the end of 2018.

“The rate of appointment of women to boards has fallen in this calendar year to only one in three. Surely it can’t be that big of a deal to appoint women to two appointments out of five? We need to get serious about this issue,” she said.

She said: “The response from many company Chairs and CEOs has been overwhelming, especially in its generosity of spirit. However, sometimes I feel that our campaign is being promoted as a social, “feel good” agenda. By all means, feel good about it, but let’s not kid ourselves: diversity is a business imperative.

“The message is clear. We believe that gender balance on boards not only encourages better leadership and governance, but diversity further contributes to better all-round board performance, and ultimately increased corporate performance for both companies and their shareholders.”
30% Club Steering Group Member and Australian Institute of Company Directors Chairman Elizabeth Proust AO said: “It is essential for those in leadership positions to do everything in their power to ensure the 30% target is reached by the end of 2018.

“Once we reach that goal we can go further, but sadly we’ve still got a way to go,” she said.

Proust added: “It’s also essential that those who believe that diversity is good for business continue to champion measures to help increase diversity, from appointing female directors to their own boards to shareholders advocating for their participation on the boards they invest in.

A recent report by The 30% Club titled ‘Leading by example’ compiles feedback from ASX 200 chairs of boards with at least 30 per cent female directors. Thirty chairs from the 53 ASX 200 companies with at least 30 per cent female directors (as of August 30, 2016) participated in this survey.

The reasons given by chairs for supporting board diversity focus on the performance benefits derived from having access to a variety of unique perspectives, expertise and knowledge of 50 per cent of the talent base.

The report shows that most of the chairs are optimistic that the number of women on ASX 200 boards will surpass the 30 per cent target in the next few years. They feel that most directors support the cause because they see the real benefits for their boards and organisations and will inevitably win over detractors.

Due to the gender balance on the boards of the interviewees, many chairs are also now focusing their attention on organisational gender diversity and on appointing directors from diverse cultural backgrounds.

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