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To be fit for the future, boards require a new form of wisdom — fresh perspectives, digital fluency and lived experiences that can improve governance practices.
Younger Australians remain underrepresented in boardrooms across the country, with results of the latest AICD Board Diversity Index putting the average age of ASX 300 directors at 61. But a new generation is slowly joining the table, bringing a valuable dimension of diversity.
The index points to a modest increase in the number of directors who have served less than 10 years. This generational shift comes at a critical time, with boards increasingly needing to take action to remain future-fit as they navigate rapid technological advancements, an intensified focus on ESG, evolving work norms and heightened stakeholder expectations.
Gideon Cordover GAICD, winner of the AICD’s 2025 Tasmanian Emerging Director Award, says seasoned boards have much to gain from meaningfully embracing younger directors.
“Fundamentally, we’re all going to benefit from having younger directors who have that eye for the future,” he says. “In addition to being tech savvy, they have a lived experience of what it’s like in the workforce right now. Younger directors can be a catalyst for change in the boardroom.”
The role of young directors
Lucy Byrne GAICD joined her first board at the age of 23. Now 45, she’s more than a decade younger than the average female director in Australia.
“It’s interesting that in society, I’m not considered young at 45, but on a board, I am,” she says.
Byrne, co-founder and managing director of for-purpose consultancy Healthy Tasmania, and an experienced board and governance leader across several health and community organisations, says digital fluency is just one advantage of having younger people on boards.
“We’re used to consuming information at rapid rate. I hope our presence on boards helps seasoned directors take a step back and say, ‘I might’ve been doing this for 20 years, but what do I need to focus on to ensure my knowledge, experience and way of being as a director still meets contemporary governance practices?’”
Younger directors bring lived experience that can shape board discussions and decisions. With an intuitive understanding of digital customer behaviour, they are increasingly vital to corporate digital transformations. They also represent the perspectives of younger customers, investors and employees, who often prioritise issues such as climate accountability, transparency, ethical supply chains and inclusive workplaces.
“More often than not, younger directors are very cognisant of a rapidly changing climate, the cost of living and housing crisis,” adds Cordover, a Kingborough Councillor, director at Southern Employment and Training Network, and executive director at tech startup UpScale Solutions.
“That brings with it a kind of inbuilt empathy and compassion among young directors that is really powerful.”
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Two-way learning
Different perspectives also create opportunities to question the status quo.
“When a younger director is empowered and listened to, they can act as a circuit breaker for groupthink,” says Cordover.
“A real advantage we bring to the boardroom is the willingness to push that Overton Window [range of subjects/arguments politically acceptable to the mainstream] of what is acceptable in our thinking and discussion, and to really bring empathy and compassion into the boardroom in a way that perhaps we haven’t seen over the past 40 or 50 years.”
Christine Khor, CEO and founder of HR tech company Peeplcoach, notes that robust discussion, respectful challenging and curiosity among boards leads to better decisions.
“But making effective decisions and achieving true innovation requires listening and sharing,” she says. “That’s where boards often get stuck. They don’t listen enough and therefore don’t embed all the insights into the discussion.”
Younger people, she says, are generally more comfortable talking about things like mental health and psychological safety — and these are important issues from a governance perspective. “It just makes so much sense to create space for this younger generation of directors.”
But welcoming younger directors to boards requires flexibility, explains Byrne.
“Boards need to consider the other responsibilities they may have, whether that be their day job or their commitment to young children or study,” she says. “There are also cost-of-living pressures younger directors may be impacted by more so than some seasoned directors. The cost of travelling to meetings, for example, should be considered. Rather than saying, ‘this is how we do our board meetings because we’ve always done it this way’, perhaps consider what best suits the directors now around the table.”
Cordover adds mentoring can be a powerful way for different generations to learn from each other.
“I’ve certainly been in stuffy boardrooms where the status quo has prevailed and we’ve had to work together to overcome groupthink,” he says. “I’m 36, so don’t consider myself to be young anymore. But in my experience, the opportunity for reverse mentoring, where I can share some of the skills I bring around native digital literacy, or just being aware of trends affecting younger people, can bring value to established boards."
On the flip side, he says, everything he knows about governance comes from a “wonderful network of people who are willing to give time to mentor me”.
“We need a two-way street where we engage in heartfelt conversations with a generosity of spirit. Decades of experience aren’t to be discounted or discredited… It’s really about creating space for a conversation that goes in two directions.”
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