Remuneration for board directors in Australia’s listed healthcare and biotechnology sector increased materially in the financial year 2025, with growth driven largely by the expanding use of equity-based incentives rather than increases in base fees.
A new sector analysis by specialist executive and board search firm Wexford Hayes of 69 ASX-listed companies shows average total remuneration for board Chairs rose 15.4 per cent to around $220,000, while Non-Executive Directors saw a 17.7 per cent increase to roughly $132,000. Fixed fees grew more modestly, reinforcing that the primary driver of pay growth was the increasing use of share-based payments across the market.
The trend reflects a structural shift in how companies, particularly smaller ones, are remunerating directors. Equity grants are increasingly being used to conserve cash, strengthen alignment with shareholders and help companies compete for experienced board members in a tight governance talent market.
Director remuneration continues to vary significantly by market capitalisation. Among companies valued above $1 billion, Chair remuneration rose sharply, with average total pay approaching $495,000, while Non-Executive Director remuneration climbed to approximately $235,000. The rise was influenced by several large equity awards, underscoring how sensitive averages have become to share-based incentives at the top end of the market.
By contrast, mid-cap companies valued between $100 million and $999 million saw a decline in Chair remuneration to around $149,000, largely due to shifts between size brackets rather than structural fee compression. Non-Executive Director pay in this segment increased only slightly.
At the smaller end of the market, below $100 million, both Chairs and Non-Executive Directors experienced strong remuneration growth, with total pay rising more than 20 per cent in each case. In this segment, equity compensation is rapidly becoming a standard component of board packages.
The growing prevalence of share-based payments is producing a wider spread of outcomes in director pay. Larger grants can materially affect reported averages, particularly in smaller capitalisation companies where equity awards are used to offset limited cash resources. For boards, this shift reflects a broader governance trend in which remuneration structures are increasingly designed not only to compensate directors, but also to reinforce long-term strategic alignment with investors and company performance.
The report also highlights continued, albeit uneven, progress on board diversity. Female representation across the sector has risen to an average of 35 per cent, indicating steady improvement over recent years. However, the data also reveal a persistent structural imbalance, with almost one quarter of companies, or 23 per cent, still having no women on their boards.
This divide suggests that while many companies are moving toward more balanced boards, a substantial minority remain slow to change. The result is a sector where progress on diversity is visible in aggregate figures but inconsistent at the company level.