Graeme Samuel, the former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, has agreed to lead a wide-ranging review of governance standards at Cbus super fund.

Evidence given to the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption this month revealed that personal information of fund members was wrongfully provided to the NSW branch of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union.

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The privacy breaches related to employees of Sydney-based building company Lis-Con Services.

Following a meeting of the Cbus board on Tuesday, Mr Samuel will oversee a comprehensive audit of governance arrangements within the fund and make recommendations on how they might be improved.

Mr Samuel will conduct the review with a second independent expert, who is yet to be appointed.

Cbus chief executive David Atkin flagged the prospect of a comprehensive review in evidence he gave to the Royal Commission earlier this month.

The fund’s chairman Steve Bracks also revealed that the board had amended the Cbus privacy policy to prevent a repeat of the privacy breach in NSW.

Under the changes, no personal information of Cbus members can be shared with any union or employer that sponsor the fund.

“This has been an unacceptable privacy breach, and the board is determined to have a completely rigorous policy and total confidence regarding the fund’s future governance in the management of information,” he said.

“We are extremely pleased to have Graeme Samuel agree to conduct the two-person review.”

An internal investigation of the events that led to the privacy breaches in NSW has been underway for several weeks.

That review, which is being conducted by governance experts from consulting firm KPMG is expected to be completed within the next month.

Cbus – the Construction & Building Industry Super fund – is a part owner of The New Daily