Risk Symposium 2019

Diane Smith-Gander AO is non-Executive director AGL Energy, Wesfarmers Limited, NQA Group of Companies, Chair of Safe Work Australia, Asbestos Safety & Eradication Council, a board member of Keystart Loans, CEDA, member of the NRFA Partnership Council, and past President of Chief Executive Women, Australia’s pre-eminent women’s advocacy group. Diane is currently appointed to the three member panel to review the capability of APRA, the banking industry regulator following the findings of the Hayne Royal Commission.

Diane has held a wide range of non-executive roles in the past including Chairman of Broadspectrum, Deputy Chairperson of NBNCo, non-executive director of the CBH Group, commissioner of Tourism WA and board member of the Committee for Perth. Diane’s last executive role was Group Executive at Westpac; a member of the leadership team of the corporation, responsible for all Information Technology, back office operations, global vendor management and property. Diane was a General Manager at Westpac for 10 years in the 1990s responsible for back office functions, retail networks and support functions.

Prior to re-joining Westpac, Diane was a partner at McKinsey & Company in Washington and New Jersey serving clients in diverse industries globally. Diane became a senior advisor to McKinsey in Australia in 2016.

Diane has been active in sports administration and is a past Chairman of both Basketball Australia Limited, the sport’s peak body, and the Australian Sports Drug Agency, the government agency responsible for deterring the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Diane holds an MBA from the University of Sydney and a BEc from the University of Western Australia (UWA). In 2015 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Economics from UWA. She is a Fellow of the AICD and Governance Institute of Australia and an adjunct professor of corporate governance at UWA where she serves on the advisory board of the Business School.

Diane is a keen down hill skier and operates a vineyard in Margaret River.

Geoff Summerhayes was appointed a Member of APRA from 1 January 2016 for a five-year term. As an Executive Board Member of APRA his responsibilities include the oversight of the General, Life and Private Health Insurance sector.

He is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee, and Chair of the Sustainable Insurance Forum, which was established under the UN Environment Program.

Mr Summerhayes was Chief Executive Officer of Suncorp Life from 2008 to 2015, as well as being a director of Suncorp Portfolio Services Ltd and of Asteron Life NZ. Before joining Suncorp he held a number of senior roles at the National Australia Bank (NAB) in strategy, product and distribution. Prior to that he was CEO of Retail Investment at MLC and also held senior roles at Lend Lease.

Mr Summerhayes was a director of the Financial Services Council and was co-chair of their Life Board Committee.

Matthew leads the national Human Capital practice at Grant Thornton Australia. Matthew has extensive experience in individual, group and organisational development, executive coaching, strategy creation and implementation, employee engagement and talent management.

Over the last 20 years Matthew has designed and delivered leadership development programs for over one thousand leaders both nationally and internationally across retail, food, mining, education, energy, water, state and federal Government, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.

Specialising in the development of high performing teams, Matthew has worked at all levels from Board to operational teams. Matthew is also experienced in providing support and strategic direction for restructuring, leadership transitions and culture change.

Emma Herd has been Chief Executive Officer at the Investor Group on Climate Change since August 2015. Emma has worked in climate change, sustainability, public policy and finance for almost twenty years.

Prior to IGCC, Emma spent 15 years at Westpac Banking Corporation where she worked at the vanguard of climate change and finance. She held a range of roles across carbon finance and emissions trading, ESG Risk assessment, public policy and advocacy, sustainability strategy development and corporate affairs across Westpac Institutional Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation. She started her career working in Parliamentary Committees (Senate and House of Representatives) in Parliament House, Canberra.

Emma is a Non-Executive Director of the Carbon Market Institute and a member of the Queensland Climate Change Advisory Council. She holds a Bachelor of Asian Studies (Thai) Hons.

Sharanjit is Head of ESG Risk at QBE Insurance Group, where his responsibilities include reporting on climate-related risks & opportunities. He was previously an actuarial consultant to general insurers and banks in the UK and Australia, specialising in natural disasters and climate risk management and disclosure.

Sharanjit convenes the Actuaries Institute's Climate Change Working Group and lectures on ESG as part of the actuarial education program. He is co-chair of technical working group 3 – on Better Informed Decisions – of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative.

He is also a member of the IGCC’s adaptation working group, the Insurance Council of Australia’s Climate Change Action Committee, the Advisory Panel to the Whitsunday’s Climate Change Innovation Hub, and a contributing author to the IPCC AR6 Working Group II Australasia.”

Davina has led the Green Building Council of Australia since June 2019.

Davina is a property professional with a broad range of sustainability experience, from environmental projects, not-for profit boards and overseas community development work, spending 8 months working in the Indian Himalayas on the construction of a school which won multiple international awards.

Career highlights include a decade at Stockland which was a global leader in sustainability and therefore understands how the GBCA’s global leadership translates into real-world outcomes. Stockland was recognised in 2016 and 2018 simultaneously holding the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Global Property leader, GRESB Global leader (Retail/Office) and recognised on the CDP Leaders A-list.

Siobhan is the Group Head of Sustainability at Westpac. Her role covers sustainability governance which includes areas such as climate change and human rights policies, as well community partnerships, Indigenous engagement – as well as the Westpac Foundation, backing community organisations and social enterprises tackling social disadvantage, and the Westpac Bicentennial Foundation – awarding 100 scholarships every year, forever. A pioneer in corporate sustainability in Australia, Siobhan is passionate about capacity of business to create positive impact, building on her early career in design.

Caroline Waldron is a senior executive and board director with 30 years’ experience in the retail, technology, infrastructure, health and professional services sectors. Her diverse background, combined with varied ASX leadership roles in risk and governance, is valued by highly regulated businesses as well as those businesses facing structural change and new forms of competition.

Caroline's skills include oversight of complex matters such as balance sheet restructures, reputation defence and influencing regulatory change to drive shareholder value. She also has experience in rebuilding organisational culture and advises a Malaysian listed infrastructure developer on its strategic investment opportunities.

Distinguished Professor Robert Wood is a world-renowned expert in organisational psychology and leadership. The founder of the Centre for Ethical Leadership at the University of Melbourne, he has a wealth of experience in designing and delivering programs in areas such as problem-solving, ethical decision-making and adaptive leadership.