(SHORT) The recent case of Qantas

I was chatting with a governance friend yesterday about the Qantas news - the record $90m fine for illegally outsourcing 1,820 jobs during Covid!

We both agreed.
This won't impact just one company.

👉 This is what happens when boards and executives treat people as numbers on a spreadsheet, not as human beings with dignity.

Justice Michael Lee did not mince words, calling Qantas’s outsourcing decision “carefully planned” and emphasising that employment is more than a livelihood, it’s tied to human dignity.

He also criticised the airline's lack of genuine contrition whilst landing down the harshest workplace-law fine in Australia's corporate history.

Wow.

I'll admit, with 20/20 hindsight, it’s easy to say “we’d have done it differently.” However, the truth is, plenty of boards DO make ethical decisions based on their values. Quietly and wisely, they balance people with profit.

Alas, those stories don’t make the headlines. Only corporate failures make it to the media and I hope the fallout is enormous. This should be sending shockwaves throughout corporate Australia.

Q: What about then-CEO, Board Chair and other NEDs...at the time?

Legally, the fine lands on Qantas. But corporate governance-wise? The finding raises serious questions about whether the CEO (Alan Joyce) acted within his delegated authority and whether the board (chaired by Richard Goyder) fulfilled its legal responsibility to ensure compliance with workplace laws.

DID THE BOARD NEGLECT THEIR OVERSIGHT ROLE?

👇

So, what next? Should Qantas apologise or bring in a crisis comms team to craft an "apology-not-apology"?

For me, it's about TRUST. Employees, customers, shareholders, regulators, partners, community. We need an apology that begins the rebuilding exercise.

If I were Chair today, I’d want to say something like this:

“We failed. We treated people as costs, not colleagues. We will make amends, with restorative action, bonus clawbacks, accountability, and culture change. From the Board and CEO to our dedicated staff, we are determined to win back the trust of our customers and the Australian public. Our standards have slipped and we are truly sorry, and that apology extends to the workers we fired.”

Then...actions will speak louder than words.

A 2024 Governance Review of the company (conducted by Tom Saar) found big problems.

So.... here’s the provocation my friend and I left with.

As a board member...

👉 Would you have stopped this decision in the boardroom?

👉 Should you stress-test management plans for their human impact, not just the financial impact?

👉 And when the law collides with values, which one wins in your boardroom?

This isn’t just a Qantas story. It’s a wake-up call.

The future of boards isn’t about avoiding fines. It’s about building cultures where the RIGHT THING is the DEFAULT THING.

🎤 How does your board make sure the right thing is the default thing?