The council is made up of "10 of the nation's biggest corporate organisations", and its aim is to work to encourage more people to move out of the cities and live, work and invest in regional Australia.

Drilling down on the make-up of the council, we see the 10 representatives of those corporates are men. Men 10, women zip.

Once again, the government's stated commitment to achieving "50-50 representation on all Australian Government boards" is missing in action, conveniently and blatantly ignored.

As the newly appointed co-directors of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation we are appalled. The foundation's vision is singular and uncompromising: that by the year 2030 men and women will be equally represented in leadership and key decision-making roles at all levels of government and public administration throughout Australia and across the region.

Enthused and energised by the financial support of the University of Canberra to expand the foundation into its second phase of operation, we are aware of the challenges ahead in achieving its objectives. The announcement of an all-male team for Regional Australia Council 2031 is a stark reminder of how much work is needed to raise consciousness around gender issues throughout Australia, and more importantly to think through how to achieve this important objective of gender equity.

The council's composition resonates with a story we heard directly from a young woman scientist soon after we started in February. She told us how she was invited to a meeting of senior industry stakeholders around her area of expertise.

As the only woman present, at the end of the meeting she courageously raised the question of the diversity in the room. The men looked around and couldn't see what she meant - surely all areas of the "industry" were represented?

Why can't the people who are making these choices in representation see this? And why should this matter?

Often these men and women can't see it because they have always felt that is the norm, and anything that reaffirms their norm is unremarkable. But this does matter, and should not be normal, for many reasons.

First, in order to strengthen a decision-making body's capacity, it's important to understand that breadth of representation improves the quality of the decision-making.

How can an all-male group possibly factor in the myriad of issues, challenges and concerns of women in rural Australia - from every stage and walk of life? This is myopic at best, patronising at worst. Moreover, women make up (slightly more than) 50 per cent of the population, including in regional Australia, and as a matter of justice and equity those women with the necessary expertise and experience should be represented on key decision-making bodies.

The Regional Australia Council 2031 is no different, and should have 50 per cent women participants. The diversity of corporations in the room, that obviously was unremarkable to all the men, would also have women in their ranks, with the experience within the corporations as well as their valuable life experience as women, to bring to the table.

Moreover, how can the council possibly attempt to make it attractive for people to work and live regionally, with essential equivalence to city services and with no disadvantage and discrimination, without responding to the diverse interests of women in achieving these objectives?

The council is focused on four pillars - "Jobs", "Population", "Liveability" and "People and Leadership". Yet the make-up of the council is solely comprised of economic infrastructure corporates which, from the get-go, ignores the importance of social infrastructure in creating prosperous, productive and vibrant communities.

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In any policy-making forum, better decision-making is ensured if the needs of a diverse population are reflected when thinking about the impact of decisions on the population as a whole.

Despite several decades of political commitment to equal opportunity, and various policy initiatives aimed at increasing the representation of women in leadership and key decision-making roles across all levels of government and public administration, progress has been slow. Many would say "glacial".

Small gains have been celebrated, and tepid targets reached, but many of these achievements remain patchy and vulnerable to the vagaries of political power and influence.

This most recent announcement reminds all men and women in Australia who want better public leadership that we need to "call out" decisions made like that of appointing 10 men to the Regional Australia Council 2031.

This does not make the grade and is not in the best interests of regional Australia.

Nor does it assist with the latest figures on how government portfolios are tracking in achieving the policy objective of 50-50 on boards. Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development are the worst performing of all, at less than 35 per cent compared to the overall rate of 47.8 per cent.

There is a long way to go, and the Regional Australia Institute should ask each of the corporations involved to immediately recommend a woman to represent them at the table - to at least ensure five of the 10 members of the council are women.