Earn
What do the ASX board directors have in common?
Being male, a Baby Boomer and holding a bachelor of arts or science is likely to progress your career further, based on the common traits of Australia’s board of directors, according to new research.

What do the ASX board directors have in common?
Being male, a Baby Boomer and holding a bachelor of arts or science is likely to progress your career further, based on the common traits of Australia’s board of directors, according to new research.

A report from Apollo Communications has analysed the remuneration, credentials and independence of ASX board directors.
The 563 non-executive directors across the ASX 100 are reported to be paid a collective $176 million a year, or $1.76 million per company on average. As a group, the 100 largest ASX-listed companies are worth $1.7 trillion and employ up to 3 million workers.
The gender pay gap was prevalent in the ASX 100 boards, with male directors earning 20 per cent more on average than their female colleagues ($263,144 for the average male salary versus $218,696 for women).
The director pay gap does narrow at the chair level, with male chairs earning 14.7 per cent more than female chairs on average ($502,516 versus $437,990).
Surprisingly, the report found that the most common degree for non-executive directors is a bachelor of arts, compared with a bachelor of science for CEOs.
The median age of directors is 60, with Apollo noting the “tail end of the Baby Boomer generation retains oversight of our corporate institutions”.
The best-paying ASX boards were found to not necessarily be with the largest companies – BHP topped board pay (third in market cap), followed by ResMed (51st by market cap), Macquarie (seventh in market cap), Rio Tinto (12th by market cap) and NAB (fifth in market cap).
The best-paid non-executive board director across the ASX 100 is Woolworths chair Gordon Cairns, who collects earnings of $1.8 million from directorships across Woolworths, Macquarie and Origin Energy.
Apollo Communications CEO Adam Connolly said that by ranking the market capitalisation of all 100 ASX-listed companies, the report examines which boards and which industries are paid more or less than their market size dictates.
“When board remuneration is ranked against company size, the top 10 best value boards in Australia are CSL, Newcrest Mining, Magellan Fin Group Ltd, Coles Group, GPT Group, Afterpay Touch, Xero Ltd, Sydney Airport, the a2 Milk Company and Sonic Healthcare,” Mr Connolly said.
“In contrast, the top 10 highest remuneration-to-market-cap ratio boards in Australia are Virgin Money UK, AMP, Resmed, Bank of Queensland, Link Group, Star Entertainment Group, Soul Pattinson, Worley Parsons, James Hardie and Challenger.”
Another observation he has is that the coronavirus outbreak will impact board activity, highlighting that the people on the board will likely make the decisions on the future of Australia post-crisis.
“One interesting outcome of Australia’s economic engagement with the world is the rise of the fly-in, fly-out board director, with one in five of Australia’s ASX-100 directors living offshore, and either phoning in for board discussions or attending in person.
“In a world physically shut down by the coronavirus, telecommuting for board directors could become commonplace.”
About the author

About the author


Salary
Unions call for ‘Aviation Keeper’ lifeline as Qantas posts $1.03bn loss
Australia’s national airline has posted a $1.03 billion half-yearly loss before tax, with the airline’s union calling for an extension of the JobKeeper program to support workers. ...Read more

Salary
IR reforms to ‘suppress wages for years to come’
Unions have hit out at the proposed industrial relations law, approved recently by the lower house, arguing it would leave workers worse off with cuts to take-home pay and conditions, few rights and ...Read more

Salary
JobSeeker rise a ‘half-arsed PR exercise’
The federal government’s plan to permanently increase JobSeeker by $50 a fortnight has been slammed by industry experts for leaving 1.2 million Australians at the mercy of poverty. ...Read more

Salary
Why 1.5m Australians could be out of work by 2030
One and a half million Australians are set to lose their jobs to automation by 2030 as technology overtakes traditional workers, a new report has revealed. ...Read more

Salary
UK’s top court declares Uber drivers ‘workers’ in landmark case
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that Uber must clarify its drivers as workers instead of independent contractors, which could have major implications for the gig economy worldwide. ...Read more

Salary
3 in 4 Aussies welcome COVID jab as rollout begins
The vast majority of Australians have declared they would consent to a COVID-19 jab, as the first phase of Australia’s vaccination program begins on Monday. ...Read more

Salary
Unemployment falls with the creation of 29k new jobs
The unemployment rate has surprised economists, falling to 6.4 per cent for the month of January, official figures show. ...Read more

Salary
Payroll back ‘around pre-COVID levels’
Australian payroll data is nearing pre-COVID levels as employees return to work post-lockdowns, official stats have revealed. ...Read more

Salary
Unions call for ‘Aviation Keeper’ lifeline as Qantas posts $1.03bn loss
Australia’s national airline has posted a $1.03 billion half-yearly loss before tax, with the airline’s union calling for an extension of the JobKeeper program to support workers. ...Read more

Salary
IR reforms to ‘suppress wages for years to come’
Unions have hit out at the proposed industrial relations law, approved recently by the lower house, arguing it would leave workers worse off with cuts to take-home pay and conditions, few rights and ...Read more

Salary
JobSeeker rise a ‘half-arsed PR exercise’
The federal government’s plan to permanently increase JobSeeker by $50 a fortnight has been slammed by industry experts for leaving 1.2 million Australians at the mercy of poverty. ...Read more

Salary
Why 1.5m Australians could be out of work by 2030
One and a half million Australians are set to lose their jobs to automation by 2030 as technology overtakes traditional workers, a new report has revealed. ...Read more

Salary
UK’s top court declares Uber drivers ‘workers’ in landmark case
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that Uber must clarify its drivers as workers instead of independent contractors, which could have major implications for the gig economy worldwide. ...Read more

Salary
3 in 4 Aussies welcome COVID jab as rollout begins
The vast majority of Australians have declared they would consent to a COVID-19 jab, as the first phase of Australia’s vaccination program begins on Monday. ...Read more

Salary
Unemployment falls with the creation of 29k new jobs
The unemployment rate has surprised economists, falling to 6.4 per cent for the month of January, official figures show. ...Read more

Salary
Payroll back ‘around pre-COVID levels’
Australian payroll data is nearing pre-COVID levels as employees return to work post-lockdowns, official stats have revealed. ...Read more