ARPC welcomes appointment of new Chair and new Board members

12 July 2023

Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC) welcomes the Government’s appointment of Ms Julie-Anne Schafer as the new Chair of ARPC, and of Mr Greg Nucifora and Mr Rod Whithear as new Members of the ARPC Board. ARPC also welcomes the recent appointments of Evelyn Horton, Eilis Hurley, Fran Raymond, and Oscar Shub to the ARPC Board.

Julie-Anne Schafer commenced on the ARPC Board on 14th September 2021 and has also served as a member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. Julie-Anne is a Brisbane-based director and qualified lawyer with experience across a wide range of sectors. She is a non-executive director at Urban Utilities, Icon Water and ActewAGL. She is also a non-executive Member of the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, and President of the National Competition Council. Julie-Anne is a former President of the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), former Chair of RACQ Insurance and has been a non-executive Director of the Territory Insurance Office. Julie-Anne holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Queensland and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Evelyn Horton is a company director with extensive expertise in financial services, governance, and risk management. Evelyn spent over a decade working at the Commonwealth Treasury in Canberra, and a further 15 years in a range of investment banking roles. She is also the Commissioner of Superannuation in Tasmania, a director of Anglicare and the Chair of the Glebe Administration Board. Evelyn holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from the Australian National University, a Master of Social Sciences in Economics from the National University of Singapore and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Eilis Hurley has held senior roles as diverse as strategy, risk, finance, and reinsurance as well as more traditional actuarial roles, across both life and general insurance, at companies including Royal and Sun Alliance, Vero, CGU, and MLC Life Insurance (as Chief Risk Officer). She is a non-executive director of Integrity Life and serves on several Risk and Audit committees across the not-for-profit sector. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University College Cork, in Ireland, and is a Fellow of both the Actuaries Institute and Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Greg Nucifora is a financial adviser based in Cairns and has extensive board level experience across public, private, and not-for-profit organisations. He serves as the Deputy Chair of Queensland Country Health Fund Ltd, Director of Queensland Country Bank, Director and Finance & Performance Committee Chair of the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Board, Chair of the Catholic Development Fund for the Diocese of Cairns, and Chair of the Finance and Audit Risk Management Committee for Tourism Tropical North Queensland. Greg is a qualified Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, and a Master of Business Administration, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Fran Raymond has had considerable experience as a senior executive in government, particularly in Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer roles, including previously as COO of ARPC. She was previously a director of Defence Bank for 12 years, and Chair for six of them.  Fran is currently a Director of Annecto and holds audit and risk committee appointments with the Australian National University and the National Health and Medical Research Council. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales, a Master of Business Administration from Charles Sturt University, and a Graduate Diploma in Public Policy from Flinders University. Fran is also a Fellow of both Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Oscar Shub is a part-time consultant with the global law firm Clyde & Co and founded their Australian legal practice as a partner. He is also a Senior Member of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) in the Occupational Division, presiding over disciplinary complaints against health practitioners for breaches of their respective codes of conduct. Oscar also chairs the Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee, an independent body that monitors compliance with the Insurance Brokers Code of Practice. Previously, he spent over 25 years as a partner at Allen Arthur Robinson (now known as Allens) and has also sat on the boards of Munich Re, OzHarvest, chaired the Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA) and LEADR (renamed to the Resolution Institute). Oscar holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa.

Rod Whithear has been Chief Executive of the Western Australian Insurance Commission since June 2012 and has more than 25 years’ experience in the Commonwealth and Western Australian public sectors. He was previously an Executive Director of the WA Treasury responsible for State operating expenditure budgets. Rod has held positions in the superannuation, information technology, social services, leasing and corporate finance portfolios of Government.

Dr Wallace said: “I am delighted that Julie-Anne Schafer has been appointed the new Chair of ARPC, and welcome Evelyn Horton, Eilis Hurley, Greg Nucifora, Fran Raymond, Oscar Shub and Rod Whithear to the ARPC Board. Their broad range of experiences will be great assets to the ARPC Board at a time of dynamic change for the organisation, particularly as insurers continue to transition to the cyclone reinsurance pool.  At a time of significant change for ARPC, Julie-Anne’s experience with the ARPC Board and our program of work will be invaluable in her new role as Chair.   I am also pleased to work with Evelyn, Eilis, Greg, Fran, Oscar and Rod as new Board members and helping them assume their responsibilities.”

“I would also like to record my thanks and deep appreciation to our outgoing Chair Ian Carson AM, and Robin Low, Maria Fernandez PSM, and David Foster as former Board members, for their contributions and support during a period of rapid growth and change for ARPC. Their contributions and thinking will be missed.

Dr Wallace said Mr Carson has made a very significant contribution to the work of ARPC.

“During his time as Chair, Ian helped to guide us through the pandemic, which was a significant time for all of us.  He also led the Board during a number of major strategic reviews of ARPC and we were consistently shown to be both efficient, and effective.

“Ian led the Board during a time of rapid change. We delivered on a formidable task in a very tight timeframe, and the cyclone pool will go on to be a major policy success for communities across northern Australia.

Dr Wallace also noted the contributions made by other outgoing Board members, saying:

“Robin Low served for two terms, chaired the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and made a significant contribution to ARPC’s risk management and financial governance. Maria Fernandez ‘s deep experience in the security and defence sectors meant she made significant contributions to ARPC in public sector governance. David Foster resigned as a member effective from 22 April, having accepted several major Board and Chairing responsibilities. David contributed significantly to the Board’s consideration of premium rates and ARPC’s engagement with insurance markets.  ARPC is a better organisation for the contributions they have made while serving on the Board.”

ARPC is a public financial corporation that administers the national terrorism and cyclone reinsurance pools and was originally created by the Commonwealth to respond to the terrorism insurance crisis arising from the terrorist attacks in New York on 11 September 2001. The cyclone pool came into effect on 1 July 2022.

Media inquiries: Alexander Drake, Head of Public Affairs, (02) 8223-6777 or [email protected]