An assessment of boards at over 230 organisations, across five sectors, by Women on Boards has found gender balance.
But not cultural diversity.
Of the more than 2,000 directors sampled, over 87 per cent were identified as being of Anglo-Celtic origin.
Just twelve per cent were found to be culturally diverse.
The Executive Director at Women on Boards, Claire Braund, says years spent trying to get more women on boards has had an unintended consequence.
"In a funny way, we've replaced the old white boys’ club with the new white girls’ club. Now none of us meant to do that and we're all probably a bit guilty of it so now it's time to really put up our hand and say okay, we've shifted the dial, we've shifted the needle when it comes to gender, what can we do now to actually really blow this whole diversity thing wide open and really look at capturing all the fantastic work experience of everybody that's out there."
Tools that helped get women on boards, such as regulatory and shareholder pressure, could now be used to increase cultural diversity says the CEO of the Diversity Council of Australia, Lisa Annese.
"But what it essentially takes is a commitment decision from that organization to invest in sourcing board candidates and potential board directors from a diversity of backgrounds. Rather than just waiting on the usual mechanisms to allow talent to filter in, because we know that when you do that because of different ways of accessing power, that that process filters out people from culturally and marginalised backgrounds."
