Lessons for public sector in the Australia Post and ASIC sagas

There are salutary lessons in the troubles that have befallen Australia Post and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Their CEO and chair respectively have been made to step aside respectively over watches given to staff as rewards for effort and a claim for expenses that has had to be repaid.

They have a common feature – both involved senior people with successful private sector backgrounds. The lesson that every similar appointee should heed is that the public sector applies very different standards.