Noel Pearson’s appointment this week to the board of Fortescue has lifted the number of Aboriginal people on major ASX boards to a grand total of five, with most in WA.
Noel Pearson’s appointment this week to the board of Fortescue has lifted the number of Aboriginal people on major ASX boards to a grand total of five, with most in WA.
The 2024 Board Diversity Index identified four Aboriginal people serving on the boards of ASX200 companies at the start of this year.
Prepared by Watermark Search and the Governance Institute of Australia, the Index has tracked slow gains in recent years.
It shows that one extended family – the Wyatts – and one corporate group – Rio Tinto – make disproportionate contributions.
Former WA treasurer Ben Wyatt serves on the boards of three ASX companies – Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy and APM Human Services International.
His uncle and former federal government minister Ken Wyatt is on the board of Rio subsidiary Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), having joined in 2022.
Another Indigenous director is ERA chief executive and managing director Brad Welsh, who is also a non-executive director at NIB Holdings.
Mr Welsh has spent more than 13 years with Rio, including as acting general manager of the Weipa bauxite operation in Northern Queensland.
That appointment, in 2020, made him the first Indigenous general manager operations in Rio’s history.
Mineral Resources provided an Indigenous boost at the beginning of last year when it recruited academic Colleen Hayward as a non-executive director.
The Watermark report said the seven board positions occupied by Indigenous directors represented just 0.3 per cent of total ASX300 board positions.
For context, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 3.8 per cent of Australia’s total population.
Looking beyond ASX300 companies, some junior miners and explorers also have Indigenous people on their boards.
Falcon Minerals recruited WA-based management consultant Katina Law as a non-executive director last year.
She has previously served on the boards of several other listed companies, including Ardea Resources (chair) and DGO Gold.
Perth-based Kate George served briefly as chair of Philippines-focused gold miner Ten Sixty Four.
To boost the number of Indigenous directors, the Australian Institute of Company Directors recently launched the second round of its First Nations Director Scholarship Program.
Meanwhile, Mr Pearson has been a prominent figure in Australian politics and policy debate for more than 30 years.
He is the founder of the Indigenous think tank Cape York Partnership and the Cape York Land Council in Queensland.
Mr Pearson also established Good to Great Schools Australia, a not-for-profit focused on raising education outcomes for Australian students.
He was a major supporter of The Voice while also being in favour of cashless welfare cards, a reform scrapped by the Albanese Labor government.
Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest was a major advocate for the cashless welfare card.
More generally, Mr Forrest has been a polarising figure among Aboriginal people.
He has criticised the payment of cash royalties as a form of welfare, preferring to focus on the creation of commercial opportunities for traditional owners.
That stance has seen Fortescue embroiled in a long running dispute with the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation.
Mr Pearson said he looked forward to making a contribution to the Fortescue business.
“Fortescue is a proud Australian company that is led by its values from mine site to the boardroom - something I have great respect for”, he said in a company announcement.
Mr Forrest said he was thrilled to welcome his new board member.
“I have known and worked alongside Noel for nearly 20 years and admire and respect him greatly,” he said.
“Noel is an innovative thinker and passionate and formidable Australian who will bring enormous benefit and insight to our board.
“Fortescue is fortunate to have a diverse and global board of directors who bring different perspectives and ideas, ensuring we remain one of Australia’s top-performing companies.”
