Governance failures are costing Australian businesses, with the country’s second-largest telco agreeing to pay $100 million for poor conduct.
Optus was recently fined for targeting vulnerable customers, including pressuring Aboriginal people in remote communities not covered by its network to buy mobile phones and other products.
This exposes a serious gap in Australia’s corporate governance, says Rebecca Blurton, the founder and managing director of advisory firm First Nations Affairs.
Telstra faced a $50 million fine in 2020 for similar conduct after the company signed up more than 100 Indigenous customers to mobile phone contracts they could not understand or were unable to afford, Ms Blurton pointed out.
“Optus essentially picked up where Telstra left off,” the Noongar adviser and expert in Indigenous governance told AAP.
Ms Blurton said this conduct seems to be a “regular thing” and there is little accountability for companies to ensure their leadership is diverse and includes First Nations voices.
She said “vague commitments” to Indigenous governance practices and leadership, which are often self-evaluated by companies, mean blind spots will prevail.
“You’re missing the opportunity to highlight the gaps and the problems so you can pivot and do better in future.”
Indigenous people must instead have real decision-making power, Ms Blurton said, to avoid a repeat of these mistakes by the telcos.
This means getting people with the right expertise onto boards and in leadership positions, and building governance frameworks that are diverse and culturally sound.
“By having the right person in the right position many of these governance gaps can be mitigated,” she said.
“The future of governance for big corporate looks different and there’s a real opportunity to embed First Nations leadership.”
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