The CIO and CTO moves that made headlines in 2021

Rebecca Mitchell

Bankwest's chief operating officer Rebecca Mitchell shifted to CIO, officially in December 2020 but the move was only revealed in late January 2021.  Her previous success leading teams across technology, delivery, strategy and risk, and her commitment to delivering simple and friendly everyday technology solutions for customers, made her ideal for the switch to CIO.

Malcolm Thatcher

Thatcher was named the Australian Digital Health Agency’s chief technology officer in January. Thatcher has a strong IT track record working in technology-based roles at the Queensland University of Technology amd Queensland Health. 

Brad Blyth

Brad Blyth was appointed chief information officer of Kmart Australia in January. He was previously Flybuys chief technology officer and Latitude Financial Services' CTO. He has also held senior technology roles at the Commonwealth Bank, including three years as its head of digital architecture.

Bernadette Stone

Bernadette Stone moved from the Brisbane City Council to RACQ in February to lead the company’s technology vision as its chief technology officer. During her time at the Brisbane City Council, Stone oversaw IT strategy,operations and delivery and led a team of around 800 staff.

Anastasia Cammaroto 

Cammaroto joined NAB in March as the CIO of its personal banking operations, after leaving Westpac where she was CIO of its consumer bank. She plays a key role at NAB transforming it to become a more simplified bank. 

Jose Perez

Funerals company InvoCare selected Jose Perez as its first chief information and technology officer in April. Perez joined from HammondCare just as InvoCare began wrapping up the final stages of an Oracle enterprise resource planning (ERP) rollout. 

Matthias Hansen

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises appointed Matthias Hansen as its new group chief technology officer in June. Hansen had previously held technology leadership roles in the health and retail divisions of Telstra.

Jacqui Visch

Visch started as PwC Australia’s chief digital and information officer (CDIO) at the beginning of July, joining after a stint as AMP’s chief technology and data officer, and before that a range of technology management roles at Westpac. While she is PwC Australia CDIO first and foremost, she has a dual role which will also see her participate in some client-facing work.

John Sutherland

National aged care provider HammondCare named Sutherland as its new CIO in August following the departure of Jose Perez the prior month. At the time of his appointment, Sutherland said the company’s mission and the chance to be a part of HammondCare’s next phase of growth were major drawcards. 

Samantha McIntyre 

Target Australia appointed former Sussan Group chief information officer Samantha McIntyre as its general manager of technology in August. Prior to joining Target, McIntyre was the interim IT business solutions manager at Bega Cheese, and was also previously the A/NZ CIO of beauty company L'Oréal and CIO at food manufacturer Simplot Australia.

Mat Yelavich

oOh!media appointed former Nine Entertainment chief information officer as its new chief technology and information officer in August. He started in the new role in October, where he oversees the outdoor advertising company’s digital transformation. 

Angela Mentis

NAB brought in Bank of New Zealand chief executive Angela Mentis in October for a brand new technology leadership role: group chief digital, data and analytics officer. The role reflects “the strategic importance and growth potential of NAB’s data and digital strategies.”

Gayan Benedict 

Benedict left the Reserve Bank of Australia in October and took up a chief technology officer and vice president of customer advisory role at Salesforce in Australia and New Zealand. Benedict was RBA CIO for more than three years, and spent eight-and-a-half years in total with the central bank.

Stephen Smith

The Reserve Bank of Australia appointed Stephen Smith as its new chief information officer following the departure of Gayan Benedict in early October. Smith was previously deputy head of IT at the RBA after initially joining the bank in 2019 as its deputy head of infrastructure and operations.

Mandy Ross

Mandy Ross joined Super Retail Group as its chief information and digital officer (CIDO) in October. She was previously chief digital officer at Griffith University. At the retailer, she replaced CIO Paul Hayes, who retired at the end of August.

Mike Wood

Wood moved from being Allianz Australia's CIO to the role of CIO at Suncorp’s insurance division in October this year. At Suncorp, Wood is implementing the insurer’s digital strategy.

Caroline Niewiarowski-Fish

Niewiarowski-Fish was appointed the new chief information officer for Western Australia's lotteries commission, Lotterywest in October. The commission's previous CIO Christian Rasmussen left in February to join the state's department of health as its CIO.

Paul Sherlock

University of South Australia’s (UniSA) chief information officer Paul Sherlock retired after 20 years in October. Sherlock told iTnews the university now has a “threshold of having a fairly consolidated picture of a student’s interactions with the university, which we want to be able to use to drive the best customer experience."

Conor Breslin

Breslin joined global travel insurance provider Cover-More Group to oversee its digital acceleration plans as international travel makes a return. He started in November following a handover from former CIO Nicki Doble.

Roger Wahl

Engineering contractor John Holland’s IT and digital chief Roger Wahl left in November after a two year stint. He has since relocated from Australia and returned to Genpact, a vendor whom he has previously held several roles with. Wahl was the inaugural guest on the iTnews Podcast.

Felicia Trewin

This month, AMP named Felicia Trewin as its first group CTO and as a member of the group executive committee. Trewin joins AMP after three-and-a-half years as group executive for technology at AustralianSuper.

Gordon Dunsford

Dunsford joined the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in December as executive general manager of digital after leaving the NSW Police. Dunsford oversaw a revamp of the 27-year-old computerised operational policing system (COPS) during his time with the force.

Charles McHardie

Charles McHardie was appointed Services Australia's chief information and digital officer in December. He was previously deputy CEO of transformation projects.