CORPORATE CULTURE – AUSTRALIA

Racism at ABC systemic, new report declares

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 7 : 2-Oct-24

The ABC’s MD David Anderson says the public broadcaster’s staff will be given anti-racism training following the belated release of a racism review. The independent review was commissioned in mid-2023 and found that ABC employees from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds have been subject to systemic racism. The review has made 15 recommendations aimed at addressing the issue, while Anderson has apologised to current and former ABC employees who had been subjected to racist behaviour.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Four Corners investigation alleges culture of fear, misogyny, bullying at Seven Network

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 13-Aug-24

Former Seven Network regional reporter Olivia Babb has told the ABC’s ‘Four Corners’ program that Seven is "one of the most degrading, soul-crushing places you can work". Babb is one of a number of current and former Seven staff who took part in the program, which alleged that the television network has a culture of bullying, harassment and misogynistic treatment. Employment lawyer Josh Bornstein told the program that there had been a noticeable pattern of hostility towards women at the network. Babb said that she was paid so little that she and other colleagues were often "one or two paychecks from homelessness".

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Nine must address ‘issues of the past’, Sneesby tells his staff

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 18-Jun-24

Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby told staff in an email on Monday that the company is working to improve its culture, but that this can only be done by "acknowledging the issues of the past". His comments come amid allegations involving two senior male managers that involve "predatory behaviour", and as Kerri-Anne Kennerley, one of Nine’s most admired on-air personalities, stated that there was an entrenched culture of bullying at the television network. Sneesby’s email was sent a week after Peter Costello quit as Nine chairman after an incident with a journalist at Canberra Airport.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Nine’s CEO signed $1m exit payout

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth, James Madden
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 28-May-24

Nine Entertainment Company is continuing to attract scrutiny over the sudden resignation of the Nine Network’s director of news and current affairs, Darren Wick. A spokeswoman has confirmed that Nine’s CEO Mike Sneesby had sign off on Wick’s severance pay of almost $1m, and the media group’s board had no role in the payout. It has previously been revealed that the board had discussed allegations that Wick had sexually harassed a number of female colleagues during his long tenure at Nine. Meanwhile, Nine will commission an independent review of its TV newsrooms’ culture in the wake of the allegations against Wick.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Unions weigh in on Rio’s woes

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Original article by Peter Ker, David Marin-Guzman, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Feb-22

Mining & Energy Union president Tony Maher says the deunionisation of Rio Tinto’s workforce in the 1990s contributed to the toxic culture that has been exposed by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. Her review of Rio Tinto’s culture found that conduct such as bullying, sexual harassment and racism are rife within the resources giant. Brad Gandy from the Australian Workers’ Union says it has been warning Rio Tinto of problems with its culture for many years; he adds that bullying occurs at Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations on a daily basis.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

Report damns Rio’s culture of bullying

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 2-Feb-22

A review of Rio Tinto’s internal culture by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has revealed that inappropriate conduct is rife within the resources giant. More than 48 per cent of employees who participated in the review said they had experienced bullying at work, with workers in the company’s Pilbara iron ore division reporting the highest levels of bullying. In addition, about 28 per cent of female employees said that they had been subjected to sexual harassment, while nearly 40 per cent of indigenous Australian employees said they had been subject to racism within the last five years. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm has committed to implementing all of Broderick’s recommendations.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Deloitte reveals extent of workplace complaints

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Original article by Edmund Tadros, Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Apr-21

Professional services firm Deloitte has disclosed that it has investigated about 15 workplace complaints annually over the last three years. The firm’s voluntary disclosure follows recent media reports which revealed that rival firm KPMG received nearly 100 workplace complaints between 2014 and March 2019, an average of about 17 per year. The majority of these complaints were allegations of bullying or sexual harassment. Workplace experts agree that the number of complaints lodged at KPMG does not reflect the true extent of the problem.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

AMP culture rife with bullying: staff

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 27-Jul-20

AMP has the worst rating of any major financial services company in terms of being a place to work, according to workplace rating website Glassdoor. AMP has been in the headlines as a result of staff uproar over the promotion of Boe Pahari to the role of AMP Capital CEO despite having received a $500,000 penalty after the firm settled a sexual harassment claim against him by a female subordinate in 2017. Comments made on Glassdoor by current and former AMP employees suggest its workforce culture is ‘rife’ with bullying and intimidation by senior managers.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, GLASSDOOR INCORPORATED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

Report finds ANZ tribal, slow and lazy

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 23-Aug-19

ANZ chairman David Gonski has commented on a governance, culture and accountability self-assessment that the bank prepared for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. Shortcomings revealed in the document, which Gonski notes was prepared on a confidential basis, prompted APRA to impose a $500 million capital charge on the bank. Gonski says some of these shortcomings include a penchant for seeking short-term fixes and a lack of accountability.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Culture to cost big three banks $500m

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Original article by James Fernyhough, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 21 : 12-Jul-19

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has imposed additional capital requirements on Westpac, the ANZ Bank and National Australia Bank following its review of their culture, governance and accountability self-assessments. They will have to set aside an extra $500m of capital until their customer remediation programs are completed and they have addressed all of the issues that emerged in their self-assessments. The increased capital requirements will have a slight impact on the three banks’ common equity tier 1 capital ratios.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY