Women on boards give firms a competitive advantage, says Australian Governor-General

The case for including women on boards should go beyond representation, as doing so is a competitive advantage for companies looking to navigate risks and secure new investments, Australian Governor-General Sam Mostyn said on Aug 5.

- Annabelle Liang

Speaking at a luncheon attended by Australian and Singaporean business leaders, she said global challenges like climate change and inequality "demand something called adaptive leadership, which needs to be supported by diversity in boards and management".

"When you see that diversity... it means that you know where risk is lying ahead, because you have people around you who look at the world differently and have different values, different channels of information," Ms Mostyn said.

"It means that you're ready to understand the opportunities, because you have more capability around the table to understand where those opportunities might come from."

For these reasons, many stakeholders view diversity on boards as essential, said Ms Mostyn, who has sat on the board of directors for companies including property group Mirvac and airline Virgin Australia.

She added that the board of an Australian superannuation fund, which she led, considered "diversity in management" before making long-term investments of billions of dollars.