TalentTuning

The rallying cry for change is growing louder, if yesterday's fiery debate between business leaders and comedians, and hosted by the Australian Institute of Management, in Sydney was any indication.

"I favour the quota system because it forces the issue on the old boys' network," Ms Buttrose said.

"It tells them women will not go away, women's voices in the boardroom have a right to be heard."

High-ranking female executives are a rarity in Australia, where almost half of the top-200 listed companies have not one female director.

Among Australia's top-200 listed companies, women account for about one in 10 directors. Founding editor of the ground-breaking Cleo magazine in 1972, Ms Buttrose went on to edit the Australian Women's Weekly and later became the first female editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph.

Research by Fortune 500 showed "companies with the highest percentage of women on their boards had equity returns 53 per cent higher than those companies with fewer women", she said.

Wentworth MP Malcolm Turnbull argued that a quota at board level would benefit only some, but not achieve the "root and branch reform that justice demands".

He wants workplace, social and infrastructure changes to enable balanced boardrooms.

"We have created a world of work that discriminates against women - that is the mistake we have made and that is what we have to change," Mr Turnbull said.

Source: The Daily Telegraph