The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors has put Kerry Stokes' Seven Group and a swag of resource companies on notice over their lack of women directors.
ACSI has written to more than 30 of Australia's top 200 stock market listed companies, including communications giant TPG Telecom and Cabcharge Australia, reminding them 30 per cent is the minimum target for women on boards.
The advisory body, whose members represent an average of 10 per cent of shareholder votes in ASX 200 companies, warned businesses it would flex its voter muscle during annual meeting season if it did not start seeing change.
"We want companies to talk though what their strategy is," ACSI chief executive Louise Davidson said.
"Ultimately companies who are unable to come up with a credible action plan or who show no interest in what we're saying will be considered when we make up voting advice to our members."
Ms Davidson said ACSI had a strong mandate from members to recommend voting against the re-election of directors who fail to take the issue seriously.
Among the companies targeted in the ACSI campaign, those without women on their boards included Seven Group, Cabcharge, Ainsworth Game Technology and Evolution Mining.
ACSI's campaign to improve the representation of women in senior business positions began five years ago when it launched the push for at least 30 per cent of all directors to be female by the end of 2017.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors also launched a call in April for all boards to ensure that 30 per cent of directors were women.
"For too long the argument has been that there was no qualified women which is clearly an outdated claim and one we're starting to hear less frequently," Ms Davidson said.
Fewer than one in four director appointments among ASX 200 companies are women.
ACSI wants companies to supply clear time frames and concrete strategy as evidence of their commitment to gender diversity at board level.
Ms Davidson said mechanisms such as succession planning were a good start to addressing board gender imbalance.
A recent Credit Suisse report found greater diversity in boards and management were associated with higher equity returns and superior stock price performance.
"There is growing evidence of links between gender diversity and financial performance in companies which suggests that ... boards that do not have diverse more diverse make-ups and skills to draw on may well suffer," Ms Davidson said.
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