In a farewell speech to the National Press Club on September 2, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said: "There are fewer big Australian companies that are run by women than by men named Peter. I don't even know what that is. Indeed, if you look at companies run by a Peter, a Michael, or a David or an Andrew, they outnumber those run by women four to one."

She spent eight years as commissioner.

Are there more big Australian companies run by men named Peter than by women?

And do companies run by men named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew outnumber those run by women four to one?

ABC Fact Check investigates.

The claim: Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick says fewer big Australian companies are run by women than by men named Peter and companies run by men named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew outnumber those run by women four to one.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick says fewer big Australian companies are run by women than by men named Peter and companies run by men named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew outnumber those run by women four to one. The verdict: When Ms Broderick made her claim, there were 11 companies in the S&P/ASX 200 index with a female chief executive and 14 with a man named Peter. Forty-nine companies had a chief executive named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew, outnumbering those with a woman by four to one. When the chairmen are added, there were 23 companies with a woman in one of the top two jobs and 29 with a man named Peter. Seventy-six companies had a man named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew in one of the top two jobs, outnumbering those with a woman by three to one. Ms Broderick's claim is close to the mark.

The evidence

Ms Broderick's speech notes gave the source of the first part of her claim, that fewer big Australian companies are run by women than by men named Peter, as an unpublished analysis conducted by Conrad Liveris, an adviser and researcher on diversity.

Mr Liveris told Fact Check he analysed the 200 companies that comprise the S&P/ASX 200 index, a group of companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange ranked by financial services company S&P Dow Jones Indices according to size.

He consulted each company's contact details published on the ASX website and examined the names of the chief executive and chair of the board.

He compiled his data in March, 2015.

'Big' Australian companies

Fact Check considers the members of the S&P/ASX 200 index to be a reasonable proxy for "big Australian companies", the expression used by Ms Broderick.

It does not include privately held companies and therefore excludes some large companies run by women, such as Hancock Prospecting whose executive chairman is Gina Rinehart.

However, it provides a consistent measurement of size across industry sectors and is reviewed every three months by S&P.

The S&P/ASX 200 is a capitalisation index, ranking companies according to the aggregate value of their shares.

It accounts for about 80 per cent of the market capitalisation, or value, of the Australian stock market.

Fact Check looked at the version of the index in place when Ms Broderick gave her speech, reviewed by S&P in June 2015 and altered due to a takeover in August.

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'Run' by women

In assessing which companies are "run" by women, Fact Check first identified whether the chief executive was a woman, and secondly considered who chaired the boards of the top 200 companies.

In Australia the chief executive is typically more involved in the day-to-day "running" of a company, while the part-time directors of the board led by the chairman set the corporate strategy and oversee the management.

Fact Check included the second stage of the chairman in its analysis because the context of Ms Broderick's speech was gender diversity in large companies, and this issue can be addressed by both chief executives and chairs of company boards.

In addition, Ms Broderick referred to boardrooms in her speech.

Sorry, this video has expired Elizabeth Broderick addresses the National Press Club in Canberra.

Before making her claim about the people running big companies, she said attention should be given to "the continued under-representation of women in leadership positions, in the community, in business, in the boardrooms and in parliaments".

According to the footnote in Ms Broderick's speech notes, she based her claim on both chief executives and chairs.

Fact Check identified the company leaders by consulting each company's details on the ASX website, or where necessary a company's own website.

Ms Broderick talked about "companies that are run by women" compared with those run by men named Peter, so Fact Check has counted the number of companies, not the number of women or the number of men named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew.

This means, for example, that Charter Hall Group, with joint managing directors David Harrison and David Southon and chairman David Clarke, is counted at the first stage only once for its chief executive and at the second stage only once for having a chief executive or chairman named David.

It also means that a company like Coca-Cola Amatil, headed by chief executive Alison Watkins and chairman David Gonski, is counted at the first stage only once for its female chief executive and at the second stage as both a company "run" by a woman and as a company run by a man named David.

The women

Kerrie Mather is CEO of Sydney Airport. ( Macarthur Advertiser )

On September 2 there were 11 S&P/ASX 200 companies with a female chief executive.

The largest company is Sydney Airport at number 21, whose chief executive is Kerrie Mather.

When chairs are added, there were 23 companies with either a female chief executive or chair of the board.

The largest company on this list is telecommunications company Telstra at number six, whose chairman is Catherine Livingstone.

Telstra's chief executive is Andrew Penn, so Telstra can be said to be "run" by both a woman and a man named Andrew.

In the top 50 companies there are two other female chief executives, Mirvac's Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz and Cochlear's Alison Deans, and two other chairs, Caltex Australia's Elizabeth Bryan and Medibank Private's Elizabeth Alexander.

In two cases, property owner Investa Office Fund and credit analyst Veda Group, both the chairman and the most senior executive are women.

The Peters

On September 2 there were 14 S&P/ASX 200 companies whose chief executive was a man named Peter.

The largest company in this category is oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum at number 11, headed by chief executive Peter Coleman. He is followed at number 13 by shopping centre manager Scentre Group, courtesy of chief executive Peter Allen, and at number 14 by Scentre's former associate Westfield Corporation, whose joint CEO is Peter Lowy.

David Gonski is the chairman and Alison Watkins is the CEO of Coca-Cola Amatil. ( ABC, AAP: Dan Lewins )

When chairmen are added, there were 29 companies with a man named Peter in at least one of the two top jobs.

One company in the index, miner Independence Group, has both - a chief executive named Peter Bradford and a chairman named Peter Bilbe.

Two companies, Macquarie Atlas Roads Group and Virtus Health, have a man named Peter and a woman in the two top jobs.

The Michaels, Davids and Andrews

Fact Check's list of Michaels includes four formally named in company records as Mike - IAG's Mike Wilkins, Boral' s Mike Kane, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's Mike Hurst and McMillan Shakespeare's Mike Salisbury.

Shortly before Ms Broderick's speech, this list was affected by the August takeover of telco iiNet by TPG Telecom, which resulted in the removal of iiNet, headed by chief executive David Buckingham and chairman Michael Smith, from the S&P/ASX 200.

On September 2, there were 12 companies in the S&P/ASX 200 with a chief executive named Michael or Mike. There were 10 with a chief executive named David and 13 with an Andrew.

When added to the Peters, there were 49 companies with a chief executive with one of the four names.

When adding chairmen, Fact Check did not isolate the companies headed by Michaels, Davids and Andrews from those headed by Peters, because of examples like Woodside Petroleum, whose chief executive is Peter Coleman and chairman is Michael Chaney.

The largest company on the ASX 200 run by a woman is Telstra, chaired by Catherine Livingstone. ( AAP: Dan Peled )

There were 76 companies with a man with one of the four names as either chief executive or chairman.

Five of the top 10 companies in Australia - Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Bank, BHP Billiton and Telstra - are headed by a combination of three Andrews, two Michaels and two Davids.

As previously mentioned, Telstra also has a female chairman in Ms Livingstone.

Six companies in the S&P/ASX 200 index are run by a man named Peter, Michael, Andrew or David and a woman.

Fresh data

S&P updated the S&P/ASX 200 index twice a short time after Ms Broderick gave her speech, replacing seven companies. Of the seven removed, one had a female chairman and one had a chairman named David. Of the seven added, one has a female chief executive, one has a chief executive named Andrew, one has a chairman named Andrew and one has a chairman named Peter.

This increases the number of female chief executives by one to 12 and leaves the number of companies with a woman in one of the two top jobs steady at 23.

It leaves the number of chief executives named Peter steady at 14 and increases the number named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew to 50.

It increases the number with a Peter in either of the top jobs by 1 to 30, and increases the number with a chief executive or chairman named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew by two to 78.

The list of names changed again in October when Michael Cameron succeeded Patrick Snowball as chief executive of Suncorp Group, as announced by the company on April 14.

The number of S&P/ASX 200 companies run by a Michael did not change when Mr Cameron became chief executive of Suncorp Group, as he left his previous position as chief executive of another company in the top 200; property investment group GPT.

Bob Johnston replaced Mr Cameron as chief executive of GPT, as announced by the company on July 21.

Another change will take place in November when Peter Harmer will replace Mike Williams as chief executive of Insurance Australia Group, as announced by the company on October 7.

ANZ will welcome a new chief executive in January when Michael Smith - generally known as Mike - will hand over to Shayne Elliott, as announced by the bank on October 1.

The verdict

The list of Australia's largest 200 companies changes regularly, as do the people who run them.

ABC Fact Check assesses claims by public figures based on the information available at the time the claim is made.

On September 2, when Ms Broderick said that there were fewer big Australian companies run by women than by men named Peter and that companies run by a Peter, a Michael, a David or an Andrew outnumbered those run by women four to one, there were 11 companies in the S&P/ASX 200 index with a female chief executive, 14 with a man named Peter and 49 with a man named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew.

When the chairmen are added, on September 2 there were 23 companies in the S&P/ASX 200 index with a woman in one of the top two jobs, 29 with a man named Peter and 76 with a man named Peter, Michael, David or Andrew.

On either analysis, there were fewer big Australian companies run by women than by men named Peter.

Looking only at chief executives, companies run by a Peter, a Michael, a David or an Andrew outnumbered those run by women by four to one. Looking at both the top jobs, they outnumbered those run by women by three to one.

Ms Broderick's claim is close to the mark.

Sources