The Board is comprised of up to 7 members who have extensive professional experience both within Australia and internationally.
The Board's responsibilities are set out under section 18(5) of the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015 and Board members have specific responsibilities under the Board Charter and are bound by the Board's Code of Conduct.
Chair, Nicholas Whitlam
As a former CEO and chairman of leading Australian financial institutions, Nicholas Whitlam has widespread experience in most aspects of banking, insurance, funds management and investment.
For more than forty years, he has held numerous positions on the boards and committees of public and private enterprises. He was the inaugural Managing Director and CEO of the State Bank of New South Wales and co-founded the investment bank Whitlam Turnbull. He is a former President of the NRMA. As chair of NRMA Insurance (now IAG), Australia’s largest general insurer, Mr Whitlam led the process whereby the NRMA continued as Australia’s largest mutual while IAG was demutualised and listed on the ASX.
More recently, Mr Whitlam chaired the boards of all three NSW seaports - Sydney, Newcastle and Port Kembla - prior to their amalgamation in 2014 as the Port Authority of New South Wales; he then served as inaugural chairman of the Port Authority until 2018. Continuing non-executive roles include directorships of Salaam Wealth (as chair) and the China-related Generations Fund. Past roles include chairing the Lifetime Care and Support Authority and serving on the boards of WorkCover NSW and the WorkCover Insurance Investment Fund.
A career banker, Mr Whitlam started his professional career in 1969 at Morgan Guaranty Trust Co (now JP Morgan), working in New York and London and rising to the position of Vice President. He then worked with American Express in Sydney and Hong Kong 1975-78, and was a senior executive with Banque Paribas in Hong Kong for the following two years.
Mr Whitlam has degrees from Harvard University (AB cum laude) and the University of London (MSc), and has been awarded honorary doctorates by The University of New South Wales and Western Sydney University.
Mr Whitlam is currently serving his first term as SIRA Board Chair until July 2027.
Deputy Chair, Helen Rowell
Helen Rowell is a non-executive director, currently on the boards of Australian Retirement Trust and Mental Health Australia. She is also Chair of the independent panel undertaking a review of the General Insurance Code of Practice.
Ms Rowell was the Deputy Chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) until 30 June 2023, having spent the prior 21 years lifting standards of practice and leading major reforms across the superannuation and insurance industries. She has represented APRA on the International Association of Insurance Supervisors Executive Committee, as President of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors, on the Financial Security Board’s Supervisory Intensity and Effectiveness Group and as co-Chair of the Joint Forum Financial Conglomerates Committee.
Prior to joining APRA in 2002, Ms Rowell was a partner at the international consulting firm Towers Perrin and President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
Ms Rowell is currently serving her first term as a SIRA Board member and as Deputy Chair until July 2027.
Board member, The Hon. Greg Keating
The Hon Greg Keating was appointed a Judge of the NSW District Court and President of the NSW Workers Compensation Commission in 2007. He retired from these roles in 2018 after 11 years of service to people impacted by work related injury. Mr Keating is now practising as a Nationally Accredited Mediator.
Mr Keating was admitted as a solicitor on 11 November 1980. He has practiced extensively in insurance law, defamation and industrial law. Mr Keating was an accredited personal injury practitioner. He was Managing Partner of McClellands Lawyers until its amalgamation with Slater and Gordon in August 2007.
Mr Keating was a Director of the WorkCover Authority from 1998 to 2007. He has held honorary appointments with the Cancer Council of New South Wales and to the Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Association. From 1992 to 2007, he was a member of the Law Society Personal Injury Committee.
In 2023 Mr Keating chaired the statutory review of the NSW Personal Injury Commission Act 2020. He is currently serving his fourth term as a SIRA Board member until November 2026. Mr Keating was previously an independent member of the SIRA Audit and Risk Committee until February 2024.
Board member, Lynelle Briggs AO
Lynelle Briggs has held numerous roles in the Australian public service, her experience spanning across the transport, maritime, social policy, health, emergency services and employment sectors.
In her executive career, Ms Briggs served as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transport and Regional Services from 2001 to 2004. She was subsequently appointed Australian Public Service Commissioner, a role she held until 2009. From 2009 to 2011, she led Medicare as its Chief Executive.
Ms Briggs previously served as the Chairperson of the NSW Planning Assessment Commission and, in 2018, was appointed a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. She also acted as a Board member for the Australian Rail Track Corporation and as an independent Councillor with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. She currently co-chairs the Maritime Legislation Strategic Review and sits on the board of GoodStart Early Learning.
Ms Briggs was appointed an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2013 for distinguished service to public administration.
Ms Briggs is serving her first term as a member of the SIRA Board until June 2028.
Board member, The Hon. John Della Bosca AM
The Hon. Dr John Della Bosca AM has long been recognised as a passionate advocate for innovative policy development, in the fields of Health, Education, mental health, disability services, drug and alcohol, and social justice.
Dr Della Bosca held the role of General Secretary of the ALP for 9 years from 1990 to 1999. During his subsequent career in NSW Parliament, he held senior positions including Minister for Health, Minister for Education & Training, Minister for Ageing and Minister for Disability Services. For most of his parliamentary career he was Minister for Workcover, and he established the Motor Accidents Authority. As Special Minister of State, he developed the policy that led to the creation of the Life-time care Authority.
As National Campaign Director for the Every Australian Counts campaign from 2010 to 2017, Dr Della Bosca successfully lobbied for the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. He also worked as a public policy researcher at the Whitlam Institute and currently serves as the Chair of Family Drug Support Australia, Disability Intermediaries Association, Independent Community Living Australia, Coast and Country Primary Care, the Labour Environmental Policy Centre and Grow Australia.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 and has been awarded the Ted Noffs Humanitarian Award (2001) and the Public Relations Institute of Australia Golden Target Award (2013). He earned a PhD in Australian Cultural History from the University of Sydney in 2021.
Dr Della Bosca is serving his first term as a member of the SIRA Board until June 2028.
Ex-Officio Board Member, Elizabeth Mildwater
Ex-Officio Board Member, Samantha Taylor PSM
Samantha Taylor was appointed Acting Chief Executive of SIRA on 9 June 2026. She comes from the Independent Review Office where she was appointed as the Independent Review Officer from February 2025.
Ms Taylor brings more than 20 years experience across senior leadership and regulatory roles in both the NSW and Commonwealth governments, having held both statutory and senior executive positions across the National Disability Insurance Agency, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguards Commission, the former NSW Department of Family and Community Services, and the former NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Ms Taylor was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2017 for leading reform of disability services in NSW.
Terms of appointment
Mr Whitlam has been appointed to the Board until 30 June 2027.
Ms Rowell has been appointed to the Board until 30 June 2027.
Mr Keating has been reappointed until 15 November 2026.
Ms Briggs has been appointed to the Board until 15 June 2028.
Dr Della Bosca has been appointed to the Board until 15 June 2028.
Ms Mildwater was appointed to the Board on 12 January 2026 in her capacity as Secretary of the Department of Customer Service.
Ms Taylor was appointed to the Board on 9 June 2026 in her capacity as Acting SIRA Chief Executive.
Related Information
Christine Feldmanis chairs the SIRA Audit and Risk Committee and Kerry Adby and Lyn Baker are Independent Members of the SIRA Audit and Risk Committee.
Ms Rowell chairs the SIRA Board’s sub-committee, the Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Premium Committee.
Updated 17 June 2026