How ASX20 chairs are getting older, less busy and remain male dominated

November 15, 2025

There was a time not too long ago when most ASX20 companies were chaired by a director who also sat on at least one other major public company board. But in recent times a new trend has emerged, where the ASX20 chairs are not being distracted by other major chairing gigs. It is also noteworthy that when Christine McLoughlin retires as Suncorp chair this month, we'll be down to just one female chair in the largest 30 Australian-based listed companies, being Ilana Atlas as chair of Scentre Group (ranked 27).

1. CBA: market cap $282b. Chair Paul O'Malley stepped up to the top job in August 2022 when Catherine Livingstone retired and in 2023 he chose not seek re-election at the Coles AGM after just one 3 year term on the board. CEO Matt Comyn has been in the role since 2017.

2. BHP: market cap $213b. Former Amcor CEO Ken MacKenzie performed the chair role for 7.5 years whilst serving on no other public company boards and when former NAB CEO Ross McEwen was announced as a his successor in March 2025, McEwen announced his resignation from the Reece board 3 months later, having only served 9 months as lead independent director. He cited the BHP workload as the reason for his resignation. BHP has never had a female chair or CEO.

3. NAB: market cap $135.7b . Phil Chronican succeeded Ken Henry as chair in November 2019 and business bank boss Andrew Irvine was promoted to CEO December 2024. NAB has never had a female chair or CEO.

4. Westpac: market cap $133.2b . Went outside and sourced Steven Gregg as its new chair two years ago. New CEO Anthony Miller commenced in November 2024 and has already made almost 800 staff redundant.

5. Wesfarmers: market cap $105b. Michael Chaney, 75, has repeated his playbook at Woodside in 2017, announcing that former BHP chair Ken MacKenzie will replace him in November 2026, 14 months after the August 28 announcement. Rob Scott was appointed CEO in November 2017 and is relatively young at 56 after almost 8 years in the role. Wesfarmers has never had a female chair or CEO.

6. ANZ: market cap $99.6b . Paul O'Sullivan succeeded the chairman of everything David Gonski in 2020 but doesn't sit on any other public boards with his biggest other commitments being chair of Western Sydney Airport and deputy chair of St Vincents Health Australia. Has been chair for 5 years and recently appointed new CEO Nuno Matos who is shaking up ANZ, which has never had a female chair or CEO.

7. CSL: market cap $96.5b . Brian McNamee was CEO for 23 years until 2013, took a 5 year break and then returned as chair in October 2018. He was born on November 1, 1956 and is currently 68. The CEO Dr Paul McKenzie was appointed in March 2023.

8. Macquarie Group: market cap $84b. Glenn Stevens succeeded Peter Warne as chair in 2022 and was born on January 23, 1958, so is now 67. Doesn't sit on any other major public company boards. CEO Shemara Wikramanayake has been in the role since August 2018.

9. Goodman Group: market cap $67.6b. Stephen Johns, 78, is the ongoing chair of Goodman Group. Was disclosed as being 70 in this notice of meeting for the 2017 Brambles AGM and doesn't sit on any other public boards. Greg Goodman has been CEO for more than 20 years. Goodman has never had a female chair or CEO.

10. Fortescue: market cap $57.7b. Andrew Forrest has held down the CEO or executive chair role for more than 20 years. Dino Otranto was appointed CEO in August 2023, succeeding Elizabeth Gaines, who remains on the board as a non-executive director.

11. Telstra: market cap $55.7b. Craig Dunn has been chair for two years and is one of the younger chairs at 61. He retired from executive life at 49 when he finished as AMP CEO in 2013. He doesn't sit on any other public company boards. Vicki Brady has been CEO for 3 years.

12. Woodside Energy: market cap $44.5b. Richard Goyder's appointment in April 2018 was announced 14 months ahead of time, similar to what Michael Chaney has just done at Wesfarmers. This is his last public company board after retiring as Qantas chair in September 2024. Goyder is 65 having been born on January 24, 1960. Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill has been in the role for 4 years.

13. Aristocrat Leisure: market cap $43.4b. chair Neil Chatfield has sat on several public company boards over the years (Recall, Seek, Transurban, Costa, Virgin Australia etc) but is now solely focusing on Aristocrat which he has chaired since 2019, besides a recent nomination to the L1 Group board after its successful reverse takeover of Platinum Asset Management. Chatfield was first elected at the 2018 Aristocrat AGM and is now 70. CEO Trevor Croker has been in the role for 8 years since 2017. Has never had a female chair or CEO.

14. Transurban: market cap $42.9b. Chair Craig Drummond succeeded Lindsay Maxsted in 2022 and has also recently joined the Ramsay Healthcare board. Also chairs AFIC, Australia's biggest LIC, although that isn't in the ASX300. He was in charge when Michelle Jablko was poached from ANZ to be Transurban CEO in 2023, succeeding Scott Charlton, who is now CEO of the privately owned Sydney Airport.

15. Sigma Pharmaceuticals: market cap $34.6b. Only rocketed up the charts after this year's reverse takeover by Chemist Warehouse. Chair Michael Sammells is a former CFO of Healthscope and Medibank Private and doesn't serve on any other public company boards.

16: Brambles: market cap $33.8b. Chair John Mullen is also chair of Qantas and Treasury Wine Estates. Has never had a female chair or CEO.

17. Northern Star: market cap $33.5b. The chair Michael Chaney is 75 and his current term expires in November 2026. Will he retire at the age of 76, like is proposed at Wesfarmers?

18. Woolworths: market cap $32.9b. Chair Scott Perkins is a relatively rare former investment banker chairing an ASX20 company. Also chair's Origin Energy. Woolworths appointed their first female CEO in Amanda Bardwell in 2024.

19. Coles: market cap $31.5b. The chair Peter Allen is 64 after replacing James Graham in May 2025. Graham had been chair since taking the gig when Coles was demerged out of Wesfarmers in 2018, where he had spent 20 years on the board. The CEO Leah Weckert was the first female in the role when appointed in 2024.

20. Pro Medicus: market cap $31.5b. Chair Peter Kempen has been on the board for 17 years and chair for 15. No disclosure of his age but likely to be in his 70s having retired as an Ernst & Young Partner in 2002. The founders still own more than 50%. Has never had a female chair or CEO.

21. QBE Insurance: market market cap $31.3b. Chair Mike Wilkins is 69, also chairs Medibank Private and will be up for election at Scentre Group next year, raising another opportunity to raise overboarding issues. He announced his retirement as QBE chair on November 14, 2025 and will be succeeded by Yasmin Allen after the May 2026, AGM

22. Wisetech: market cap $31.1b. After a major board clean out earlier this year, founder and major shareholder Richard White is back in control as executive chair. He turns 70 in December.

23. REA: market cap $30.5b. Hamish McLennan is the best paid professional public company director in Australia and has chaired REA since April 2012 and was last re-elected in 2024. After 13 years, he is the longest serving non-executive chair in the ASX50. New CEO Cameron McIntyre has just been poached from Carsales.

24. Santos: market cap $22.4b. Currently under takeover pressure and chair Ken Spence, 71, has been in the role since February 2018. CEO Kevin Gallagher was appointed CEO in February 2016 so they've been together for a long time, having also spent many years together in senior management roles at Woodside in Perth.

25. Suncorp: market cap $22.1b. A rare example of a female chaired company as Christine McLoughlin had been in charge since 2018 and on the board since 2015. However, she retired after the September 25 AGM and has been succeeded by Duncan West.

26. Origin Energy: market cap $21.6b. Chair Scott Perkins joined the Board in September 2015 and became Chair in October 2020. Her also chairs Woolworths. CEO Frank Calabria has been in the role since October 2016. Has never had a female chair or CEO.

27. Scentre Group: market cap $21.4b. Ilana Atlas succeeded Brian Schwartz as chair in September 2023 and has served on the board since its May 2021. Now that Christine McLoughlin has retired as Suncorp chair, she is the leading Australian female chair in terms of market cap. Ilana was previously chair of Coca Cola Amatil. CEO Elliott Rusanow has been in the role for 3 years.

28. Computershare: market cap $21b. Chair Paul Reynolds joined the board in October 2018 and became chair in November 2022. He doesn't sit on any other ASX boards. CEO Stuart Irvine has been in the role since 2014. Has never had a female chair or CEO.

29. SGH Ltd: market cap $20.3b. Conglomerate 50% controlled by Kerry Stokes although he is off the board now and it is independently chaired by former Coca Cola Amatil CEO Terry Davis, 67, who has been a director since 2010 and chair since November 2021, when Kerry Stokes retired. His son Ryan Stokes has been CEO since 2010, so the current leadership duo have been on the board together for 15 years, although SGH has just announced that Terry Davis will retire as chair some time in 2026, with a search now underway for a replacement.

30. IAG: market cap $19.6b. The chair Tom Pockett joined the board in 2015 and became chair in 2021, replacing Elizabeth Bryan. He was the former CFO of Woolworths and is also the current chair of Stockland. CEO Nick Hawkins has been in the role since November 2020.

31. Cochlear: market cap $18.3b. Alison Deans succeeded Rick Holliday-Smith as chair in 2021 after first joining the board in 2015. Was re-elected in 2024 so likely to serve until at least 2027. CEO Dig Howitt has been in the role since January 2018.

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How ASX20 chairs are getting older, less busy and remain male dominated

November 15, 2025