Julie-Anne Schafer was appointed by the Responsible Minister as Chair for a period of 3 years commencing on 7 July 2023. Julie-Anne was first appointed to the Board as a part-time Member for a three-year term, commencing 14 September 2021 and was a member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee between April and July 2023 until her appointment as Chair.

Julie-Anne is a Brisbane-based director and qualified lawyer with experience in diverse and regulated sectors including insurance, financial services, energy, water, transport, health, and member services. She is currently a Non-executive Director at Urban Utilities, Icon Water and ActewAGL. She is a Non-executive Member of the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator. She is a part-time President of the National Competition Council. Her career includes experience in retail consumer insurance and cyclone risk through her past roles as President of Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), Chair of RACQ Insurance and as a Non-executive Director of the Territory Insurance Office. Julie-Anne holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from UQ and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF), and she also facilitates in Governance, Risk and Strategy for the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Elaine Collins was appointed a Member of the Board on 1 July 2015 and reappointed for two further three year terms.  She is a member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. 

Elaine is a non-executive director, actuary and professor, with a career spanning more than 25 years in the insurance industry. Her experience includes carrying out Appointed Actuary roles for more than ten years, as a Director of KPMG, then as a Partner of Deloitte. Elaine has key expertise in strategic risk management, policy formulation and capital efficiency.

She has been a non-executive Board director for ten years and currently sits on the Boards of ANZLMI, Ivory Insurance and RACV.

Elaine also holds an academic role as a Professor of Practice with the Business School at the University of New South Wales. She is a Fellow of the Actuaries Institute, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a former member of the Actuaries Institute’s Professional Standards Committee.

Evelyn Horton was appointed to the board as part time member for a three-year term, commencing 23 April 2023. Evelyn 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 fifteen 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 was appointed to the Board as a part time member for a three-year term, commencing 23 April 2023. Eilis has worked in Insurance for many years, both in Australia and UK. This has involved roles as diverse as strategy, risk, finance, and reinsurance, as well as more traditional actuarial roles, spanning life and general insurance.

Eilis is a non-executive director of Integrity Life, and also serves on several Risk and Audit committees across the not-for-profit sector. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University College Cork (Ireland), and is a Fellow of the Actuaries Institute and Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Fran Raymond was appointed to the Board as a part time member for a three-year term, commencing 23 April 2023. Fran has had considerable experience as a senior executive in government, particularly in Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) roles, including previously as COO of ARPC. She was previously a director of Defence Bank for twelve 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.

Jan van der Schalk was appointed to the Board on 1 July 2022 and is the Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. Jan extensive experience in reinsurance and investment management. He was an environmental and social governance (ESG) investment specialist and has worked as a fund manager for Ausbil and Hong Kong-based investment group CLSA in equities analyst roles.

Earlier in his career, Jan was part of a team which founded and built property catastrophe specialist, ACE Tempest Reinsurance where he was Chief Underwriting Officer (International). He also served as CEO of Asset Management and Reinsurance at Insurance Australia Group (IAG) for seven years. As an entrepreneur, Jan also founded Just-Ezi, an internet-based car insurance comparison site.

Oscar Shub was appointed to the Board as a part time member for a three-year term, commencing 23 April 2023.  Oscar 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.

Greg Nucifora was appointed to the Board as a part time member for a three-year term, commencing 7 July 2023. Greg is a financial adviser based in Cairns and has extensive board level experience across public, private, and not-for-profit organisations. He is a 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, Chair of the Finance and Audit Risk Management Committee for Tourism Tropical North Queensland and the former Deputy Chair of Queensland Country Health Fund Ltd.

Greg is a qualified Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, is Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) compliant and is a Graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Rod Whithear was appointed to the Board as a part time member for a three year term, commencing 7 July 2023. Rod 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. Rod holds a Graduate Diploma of Management from the Australian Graduate School of Management and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Guy is the Australian Government Actuary (AGA). The Australian Government Actuary (AGA) provides independent advice to a wide range of government departments and agencies throughout the Australian public sector.  Guy is also the Reviewing Actuary to both the NDIS and the ARPC and is a Board member of the Tuition Protection Schemes for international and domestic students. In 2022 he became a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Demographic Statistics Expert Advisory Group.

Guy’s appointment to the role of the Australian Government Actuary followed a 30-year career in insurance, superannuation, retirement incomes. He has been an Appointed Actuary under the Life Insurance Act for over ten years. Prior to his appointment as the AGA, Guy served in senior roles as a Partner of Mercer and as a Director.

Chris Wallace is an insurance executive with experience in general insurance, workers compensation, health insurance, medical indemnity, and reinsurance. He has worked extensively in insurance leadership roles within insurers and as a consultant to the insurance industry.

Chris has leadership experience in most aspects of the insurance sector including small, specialised insurers and large insurers.

Chris is also a non-executive director and Chair of MIPS Insurance Pty Ltd, a medical indemnity insurer. Through his role with ARPC, Chris is also a member of the OECD High Level Advisory Board for the Financial Management of Large-Scale Catastrophe Risks.

Previous professional roles include being General Manager Workers Compensation at GIO, Executive Director at Ernst & Young, and General Manager Benefits Management at HCF.

ARPC is a member of the International Forum for Terrorism Risk (Re) Insurance Pools, where Chris is also President.

Chris has a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics, specialising in general insurance pricing and strategy. He is a fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, a Certified Insurance Professional, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jason Flanagan commenced in the CCCO role with ARPC on 7 February 2022. He has substantial experience across General Insurance Claims, Transformation and Customer functional areas within the insurance and the financial services industry. His previous roles include Head of General Insurance Claims and Head of Customer Care and Regulatory Change at Westpac and an earlier stint with BT Financial Group as Head of Contact Centres and Head of Customer Relations. His role at ARPC includes ARPC’s Terrorism Reinsurance Pool as well as the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool, covering cyclones and related flood damage. Jason has direct experience with natural disaster insurance claims management in Northern Australia, gained through his role as Head of General Insurance Claims with Westpac. He was also on the ground during the Townsville floods in 2019, where he gained firsthand experience about how such events impact local communities and the important role that general insurance plays in the community.

Samantha Lawrence has more than 15 years’ experience in governance and Board secretary roles in the public sector, financial services and insurance industries. Prior to joining ARPC, Samantha was Chief of Staff at Insurance and Care NSW (icare). She was Executive Sponsor for diversity and inclusion and previously held the position of GM, Inclusion and Diversity. She was the Company Secretary at icare from inception until 2017.  Samantha has Board secretary experience with a range of other related NSW Government organisations including the former WorkCover NSW’s Workers Compensation Insurance Fund (WCIF) and Safety, Return to Work and Support (SRWS).  Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Archaeology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. She has undertaken the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Course. 

Michael Pennell has almost 30 years industry experience, having held reinsurance management roles with Swiss Re and General Re prior to his role at ARPC. He started his early career as a civil engineer. Michael assists insurers and brokers to understand the pool and is responsible for negotiating and implementing ARPC’s annual retrocession program. Michael also leads various projects that enable ARPC to develop and enhance its catastrophe modelling capabilities. Michael is the Chair of the Reinsurance Faculty Advisory Board of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance and teaches reinsurance at the Institute’s annual Reinsurance Study Course Seminar. Michael holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney, has completed the Advanced Management Program at University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School), is a Fellow and Certified Insurance Professional with ANZIIF, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Michael was awarded the Public Service Medal as part of the Australia Day 2017 Honours List for outstanding public service in the development of the terrorism insurance pool. 

Scott joined ARPC in November 2022. Having spent over 10 years at Gen Re in various roles, including Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Risk Officer for Asia Pacific spanning both Property and Casualty, and Life reinsurance; Scott has a strong understanding of the Australian and international reinsurance sector and brings strong financial and actuarial leadership to ARPC. Previous roles in Scott’s early career spanned chartered accountancy, financial control and capital management in professional services and financial services firms in both Australia and the United Kingdom. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Macquarie University and a Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Victoria Simpson has over 20 years’ experience in financial services. Victoria’s experience includes strategy and operations having joined ARPC from Avant Law, a commercial law firm and subsidiary of Avant Mutual, where she was Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Victoria was Head of Group Strategy & Portfolio Management Office at Avant Mutual, which is Australia’s largest Medical Defence Organisation providing indemnity insurance, business insurance and legal services to doctors.  Victoria’s career also includes 14 years at AMP, where she held several prominent roles most recently as Head of Insurance Proposition, and previously as Head of Strategic Marketing – Wealth and Insurance, Head of Group Insurance Product and Pricing Actuary.  Victoria began her career as an actuary at Canada Life in County Dublin in Ireland. Victoria holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science and Applications from Queen’s University in Belfast. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in Australia and the United Kingdom. She is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).