Left of Boom
ANZ Corporate
Crisis Index
2019 – 2026  |  49 documented crises
94% Of the 49 major corporate crises recorded across Australia and New Zealand since 2019, 46 ended in damage to reputation, whatever set them off.

No crisis stays in its lane. The typical event in this index cuts across three or four of the nine impact categories Left of Boom tracks, spreading from its trigger into finances, operations and governance. Most crises are not bad luck. They follow decisions made, or not made, in the time before the boom.

49
Documented crises, 2019–2026
15
Industry sectors affected
9
Impact categories tracked, from cyber to conduct

Reading the pattern

Click any year, sector or impact category to filter the full record below. The shape of the data is the argument: crises cluster where preparation is weakest.

3.4
Crises compound

The average crisis in this index hits 3.4 of the nine impact categories. A cyber attack becomes a data breach, then a regulatory matter, then a fight for reputation. Plan for the chain of consequences, not just the trigger.

23 of 49
Nearly half end with the regulator

Regulatory impact is the second most common consequence in the index, behind only reputation. Investigations, enforceable undertakings and court action arrive after the event, and they judge the response as hard as the trigger.

×3
Lightning strikes twice

Optus appears three times in this index. Qantas and ANZ appear twice each, ANZ twice in 2025 alone. Surviving one crisis gives no immunity from the next. Capability, not luck, decides how the sequel runs.

Crises by year

Crises by sector

A new vector is emerging. The most recent entries show artificial intelligence moving from tool to threat: fabricated citations in a government report, AI used to cheat professional exams, and an estimated A$1 billion loan fraud built on AI-generated documents. The controls that worked last year were not designed for this.
49 of 49 crises
How to read this. Cause is Left of Boom's editorial assessment based on public information, not a finding of legal fault. Entries are drawn from public reporting, regulatory findings, inquiries and court records. Where a matter is before a court or unresolved, nothing here should be read as a conclusion of wrongdoing.

How would your organisation have handled this?

Every crisis in this index is a question for your board. Left of Boom helps organisations prevent, prepare for, and respond to the events that threaten their people, operations and reputation, across five service lines.

REVIEW
Test whether your controls actually work, before a regulator or inquiry does.
PLAN
Build crisis, continuity and incident plans that hold under real pressure.
TRAIN
Prepare leaders and spokespeople for the moment that defines them.
EXERCISE
Rehearse the hardest scenarios so the decisions are not made for the first time live.
RESPONSE
Stand alongside your team when a crisis is unfolding now.
Talk to Left of Boom