The report by Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) found that an increase in the share of female ‘top-tier' managers by 10 percentage points or more led to a 6.6% increase in the market value of ASX-listed companies, worth the equivalent of A$104.7 million.

An increase of 10 percentage points or more in female board representation led to an average uplift in market value of $78.5 million, and a 6% increase in the likelihood of outperforming their peers on three or more metrics.

A female CEO resulted in a 12.9% increase in the likelihood of outperforming the sector on three or more metrics, and a 5% increase in market value, worth the equivalent of $79.6 million on average.

Women make up only 17.1% of CEOs and just 14.1% of company chairs.

"In this report, we have identified a compelling causal relationship between an increase in the share of women in leadership and subsequent improvements in company performance," report author and BCEC principal research fellow associate Professor Rebecca Cassells said.

The report also found an increase of 10 percentage points or more in the share of female key management personnel led to a 5.8% increase in the likelihood of outperforming their sector on three or more metrics.

WGEA director Libby Lyons said the ground-breaking research had provided new evidence of the crucial need for improving gender diversity.

"As we ‘snap forward' to a post-COVID-19 economy, this report demonstrates that CEOs and senior executives must include gender equality as they develop recovery plans," she said.

"Workplace gender equality is not just about fairness, it also has a compelling commercial imperative. This research provides hard evidence that more women in top-tier management levels will deliver improved profitability for business. Now more than ever, achieving workplace gender equality is an absolute necessity for every organisation in Australia."

Nearly 30% of ASX-listed companies had no female board representation and a similar proportion had no female management.

The construction sector was singled out as the worst offender, with two thirds of companies having no female directors. The education sector was the best with only 5.4% of companies with no women on their boards.

The mining sector was about the middle of the road, with 36.9% of companies having no female directors.

Another 37.6% of miners had a quarter female directors, 23.5% had up to half and just 2% had more than half.

But the mining industry was second-worst (behind construction) when it came to women in management positions.

While 4% of companies had over half of their management teams made up of women, 24.2% had up to half, 27.4% had up to a quarter and a high 46% had none.