On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to introduce Australia Post’s Remuneration Report for the 2018/19 financial year.

The purpose of this report is to fully disclose our approach to the remuneration of our key management personnel (KMP), including the senior executives and directors of Australia Post. As such, this report seeks to align with the same governance standards that apply to ASX-listed corporations, including aligning with the disclosure requirements outlined in Sec 300A of the Corporations Act 2001.

This year, there are new disclosure requirements for Commonwealth entities, due to rule amendments that now apply under the Public Governance, Performance Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). This entails the introduction of aggregated remuneration reporting of other highly paid staff in bandings, with defined total remuneration in excess of $220,000 in FY19 (see section 8 of this report). This provides greater transparency in the number of highly-paid employees and the remuneration levels employed by the Australian Postal Corporation.

In FY19, the Board has embedded and applied a new remuneration framework, which was originally developed in FY18. The overarching framework is outlined in section 2 of this report, under “Remuneration on a Page”. The framework is anchored by six clear design principles that support our decisions around executive remuneration (see Remuneration governance).

During the year, the Board endorsed a change to the assessment of the Short Term Incentive (STI) plan for KMP, so that STI payments are comprised of: 50 per cent enterprise financials; 10 per cent business unit financials; 20 per cent strategic KPIs; and, 20 per cent leadership and safety management.

Overall financial performance against the enterprise scorecard was strong in FY19, including the achievement of our stretch targets for profit before tax, business efficiency and new revenue. We did not achieve all of our FY19 people-related KPIs, including some specific workplace safety and engagement results. As a result, the Board has determined to pay the Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director 75 per cent of her potential incentive payment; and an average incentive of 72 per cent of fixed annual remuneration for the other senior executives.

There were several important changes to the composition of the Executive Team during FY19. As mentioned in last year’s report, Christine Corbett and Andrew Walduck left the business at the very start of the financial year. Subsequently, during the year, senior executives Chris Blake and Janelle Hopkins left the organisation. I would like to thank them for their contribution to Australia Post over many years.

In her first full year as our Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Christine Holgate has refreshed our leadership team by appointing several new executives, including:

• Annette Carey was appointed EGM, International Services (from 1 July 2018)
• Susan Davies was appointed EGM, People & Culture (from 1 July 2018)
• Ingo Bohlken was appointed EGM, Product & Innovation (from 30 July 2018)
• Nicole Sheffield was appointed EGM, Community & Consumer (from 6 August 2018)
• Rodney Boys was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer (from 27 May 2019).

I would like to congratulate each of them on their appointment to significant roles within our business – and thank them for their contribution.

I would also like to acknowledge Paul Scurrah who resigned as a non-executive director on 15 February 2019 – and I would like to welcome Mario D’Orazio who joined our Board as a non-executive director on 21 March 2019.

This Remuneration Report provides full and accurate disclosure in relation to our remuneration principles, policies and practices for FY19. I encourage you to read what follows.

John Stanhope AM
Chairman