24 June 2004

The Business Council of Australia has released a position paper in response to the continuing debate over pay for CEOs and other senior business managers.

The BCA paper says clear examples of excessive pay and reward for underperformance had damaged Australia’s corporate sector, but warns further regulation of publicly listed companies in this area would be counterproductive.

The paper outlines the level and extent of regulation that already applies to executive pay, as well as steps taken by corporate Australia to supplement this through clear and concise guidelines on pay structures, board decision making and disclosure.

It also highlights how the majority of boards of publicly listed companies were now taking steps to make sure contracts of senior company managers were more closely tied to performance hurdles, and were seen to be so.