A new round of scholarships offered by the South Australian Government will see 25 South Australian women undertake an intensive training course run by the Australian Institute of Company Directors to give them a foot up the corporate ladder.

Premier Jay Weatherill said the scholarships offered by the Government was acknowledgement that talented women often find it difficult to access training opportunities required for senior positions.

“There are many qualified and experienced women with the ability to make significant contributions to organisations,” Mr Weatherill said.

“Despite this, women still remain under-represented in senior positions because they lack essential training in areas like governance and working with a board.

“Providing women with access to training run by an internationally-regarded organisation will give them a competitive edge in the work place. It is hoped that what they learn provides them with the skills and confidence to take that next step in their career or help them be considered for a board position.”

The announcement comes after the release of new statistics by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which shows that women continue to be seriously underrepresented in senior positions around the company.

The Gender Indicators, Australia report brings together a large set of ABS and non-ABS data to examine the differences between men and women, and how these differences are changing over time.

ABS Director of Living Conditions Statistics, Caroline Daley, said men still held a higher proportion of Australia’s top leadership positions including federal and state parliamentarians, CEOs in the top 200 ASX companies and managers in the Australian Public Service.

"Seven out of ten federal and state parliamentarians were men, and this hasn't changed over the past ten years," Ms Daley said.

"The proportion of women CEOs in top 200 ASX companies has remained below five per cent for the last decade,” she said.