Our Board is also responsible for overseeing governance and delivering accountable corporate performance for shareholders in accordance with the bank’s goals and strategic objectives.
Vicki Carter
BA (Social Sciences), Dip Mgt, Certificate in Executive Coaching, GAICD
Vicki lives, works and learns on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation and was appointed Chair in May 2024.
Vicki joined the Board in September 2018 and is also a member of the Board Risk Committee and Board People and Culture Committee.
With more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services and telecommunications sectors, Vicki has held executive roles in distribution, strategy and operations, human resources and transformation. Her extensive skills in large scale people leadership, product and sales management, transformation delivery and risk management have been, and continue to be, valuable and contemporary contributions to the Board.
Vicki’s former roles include Executive Director, Transformation Delivery at Telstra, Executive General Manager Retail Bank at NAB, Executive General Manager Business Operations and General Manager People and Culture also at NAB, as well as senior leadership roles at MLC, ING and Prudential Assurance Co Ltd.
Other director and memberships:
- Director of ASX Limited (ASX:ASX) (Feb 2023 to present)
- Director of IPH Limited (ASX:IPH) (Oct 2022 to present)
Richard Fennell
BEc, FCA, MAICD.
Richard Fennell lives, works and learns on the land of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in August 2024.
Having been with the Bank since 2007, Richard formerly led the Bank’s Consumer Banking Division from 2018 to 2024, which focused on the delivery of products and services through the Bank’s company-owned and Community Bank branches and through a range of partner organisations including mortgage brokers and financial advisors.
Richard was also formerly the Bank’s Chief Financial Officer, from 2009 to 2018, and Chief General Manager, Group Strategy between 2007 and 2009. Richard spent the early part of his career in finance and consulting, primarily with PwC in Australia and Asia.
Other director and memberships:
- Director of the Adelaide Football Club (April 2017 to present)
Victoria Weekes
BCom (UNSW) LLB (UNSW), FAICD
Victoria lives, works and learns on the land of the Wangal people of the Eora Nation and joined the Board in February 2022.
Victoria is Chair of the Board Risk Committee and member of the Board People and Culture Committee.
With more than 35 years’ experience in financial services, Victoria has held executive roles with major Australian listed companies and multinationals including Westpac, Citi, Allens and Jarden Morgan (now CS First Boston).
Victoria is a Senior Fellow and past President of professional standards body FINSIA, a Chartered Banker and was previously the Chair of the Australian Gender Equality Council. Victoria is a former Director of URB Investments Limited (ASX:URB), a former Director of Alcidion Group Limited (ASX:ALC) and former Chair of NSW Treasury Audit and Risk Committee.
Other director and memberships:
- Member of State Library of NSW (March 2014 to present)
- Member of ASIC Markets Disciplinary Panel (July 2011 to present)
- Chair of ASIC Markets Disciplinary Panel (2025 - 2028)
- Treasurer of the Australian Gender Equality Council (December 2016 to present)
- Independent Chair of Pinnacle Housing Partnerships Limited (September 2023 to present)
Alistair Muir
Independent Director
Dip. Comp Sci, BSC (Hons), MAICD
Alistair lives, works and learns on the land of the of the Bidjigal and Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and joined the Board in September 2022.
Alistair is Chair of the Board Technology and Transformation Committee and a member of the Board People and Culture Committee.
An experienced digital executive and entrepreneur with more than 20 years’ experience working in financial services and technology, Alistair is currently the Managing Director of advisory business Vanteum and has helped a number of ASX50 and Fortune 500 companies to launch and scale new digital products and ventures as well as advising several government departments in Australia and internationally on Fintech, innovation and emerging technologies such as AI.
Alistair holds a first-class honours degree in computer science and postgraduate qualifications from both Harvard Business School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Alistair was previously Director and Chair of the Technology Board committee at Humm Group Limited.
Other director and memberships:
- Director of Helia Group Limited (formerly Genworth) (ASX:HLI) (Dec 2021 to present)
- Member of ASIC’s Consultative Panel (June 2023 to present)
- Advisor to CSIRO on the commercialisation of science and technology (June 2016 to present)
(Patricia) Margaret Payn
Independent Director
B.A (Honors) French and Pure Mathematics, ICAEW Fellow (FCA)
Margaret lives, works and learns on the land of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and joined the Board in September 2023.
Margaret is the Chair of the Board Audit Committee and a member of the Board Risk Committee and the Board Technology and Transformation Committee.
Margaret has extensive global experience across the financial services industry (banking and wealth management); her experience covers roles in finance, strategy, operations, product and risk. She has worked for large publicly listed companies and their subsidiaries in the UK, Asia and Australia.
Margaret was most recently Chief Financial Officer of AMP Capital (at the time, a large public and private markets investment manager) and formerly held roles as Group Managing Director of Strategy and Marketing at ANZ, senior finance roles at Westpac and Citigroup Australia as well as senior finance and risk roles in Schroders.
Margaret was a non-executive director of two investment companies listed in the UK, serving as the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committees of each company (JP Morgan Mid Cap Investment Trust until February 2024 and Albion Technology & General VCT until December 2024).
Other director and memberships:
- Director of Blue Araucaria Pty Ltd (October 2010 to present)
Abi Cleland
MBA, BCom/BA
Abi lives, works and learns on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation and joined the Board in April 2024.
Abi is Chair of the Board People and Culture Committee and a member of the Board Technology and Transformation Committee.
With global expertise in strategy, digital, supply chain, M&A and operations, Abi has held senior corporate roles with Amcor, Incitec Pivot, ANZ 333 Management and Caltex after starting her career at BHP. From 2012 to 2017, Abi established and ran an advisory and management business, Absolute Partners, focused on strategy, innovation, and disruption.
Abi was previously a Director of Orora Limited, Managing Director at KordaMentha’s 333 and was a non-Executive Director of Sydney Airport Corporation, Chair of Planwise AU, a Director of Swimming Australia and on the Lazard PE Fund Advisory Committee.
Other director and memberships:
- Director of Coles Limited (ASX:COL) (November 2018 to present)
- Director of Computershare Limited (ASX:CPU) (February 2018 to present)
Daryl Johnson
MBA, BBus (FinEc), GAICD
Daryl lives, works and learns on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation and joined the Board in September 2024.
Daryl is a member of the Board Risk Committee and Board Audit Committee.
With more than 40 years’ banking and finance experience in Australia, Asia and New Zealand, Daryl’s most recent executive role was as CEO of Rabobank New Zealand, which he held from June 2016 to December 2017. Prior to that Daryl was CEO of NAB Asia and Executive General Manager of NAB Business and General Manager of Corporate Banking.
Daryl was previously a non-Executive Director of Beyond Bank Australia, Cuscal and CG Spectrum Institute and an Advisory Committee member to specialist provider of working capital funding to the agricultural sector, Agrifunder.
Other director and memberships:
- Director of Credit Corp PNG (June 2022 to Present)
Travis Dillon
MBA MAICD
Travis Dillon lives, works and learns on the traditional Country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and joined the board in February 2025.
Travis is a member of the Board Audit Committee and the Board Risk Committee.
With extensive commercial and strategic experience with expertise in business strategy, change management, operational management and equity capital markets and decades of experience in Australian agriculture and agribusiness Travis was CEO and Managing Director at Ruralco Holdings Limited from 2015 to 2019.
Travis is an experienced non-Executive Director and was previously the Chair of Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood from October 2020 until November 2024.
Other director and memberships:
- Chair of Select Harvests Limited (ASX:SVH) (November 2021 to present)
- Chair of Australian Grain Technologies (January 2024 to present)
BEN Board Committee Composition
| Non-Executive Directors | Audit | Risk | People & Culture | Technology & Transformation |
| Vicki Carter | Member | Member | ||
| Victoria Weekes | Chair | Member | ||
| Margaret Payn | Chair | Member | Member | |
| Abi Cleland | Chair | Member | ||
| Alistair Muir | Member | Chair | ||
| Daryl Johnson | Member | Member | ||
| Travis Dillon | Member | Member |
Richard Fennell
BEc, CA, MAICD.
Richard Fennell lives on the traditional Country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains.
Richard was appointed Chief Executive Officer in August 2024 and has been with the Bank since 2007. Richard led the Bank’s Consumer Banking Division from 2018. This included the Retail, Third Party and Wealth businesses, which focused on the delivery of consumer focused products and services through the Bank’s company owned and Community Bank branches and through a range of partner organisations including mortgage brokers and financial advisors.
Prior to this, Richard was the Bank’s Chief Financial Officer between 2009 and 2018 and Executive Group Strategy between 2007 and 2009. Richard spent the early part of his career in finance and consulting, primarily with PWC in Australia and Asia.
A keen supporter of sport and the arts in South Australia, Richard has been a Director of the Adelaide Football Club since 2017 and until recently was Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors of the Helpmann Academy.
Sarah Bateson
BBus, GAICD
Sarah Bateson lives on the land of the Dja Dja Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Sarah joined the Bank in March 2020 and is responsible for the Group’s Brand, Marketing and Communications division.
Sarah is a customer-obsessed marketing leader with extensive experience across the finance, entertainment, retail, and gaming industries. BT Finance, GE Money, Laura Ashley, and Crown Resorts have all benefited from her marketing expertise, commercial acumen and proven ability to deliver strong business growth.
With over 20 years of experience across marketing and communications, Sarah has a strong track record of developing high-performing teams, building multi-discipline alignment, delivering complex digital transformations and driving marketing impact.
Sarah is passionate about diversity and inclusion in the workplace and is the Executive Sponsor of our BEN Pride Committee.
Andrew Morgan
BCom, FCPA, GAICD
Andrew Morgan lives on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.
Andrew joined Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in June 2022.
With more than 30 years of global financial services experience behind him, Andrew joined the Bank from Colonial First State where he was Chief Financial Officer.
Prior to Colonial First State, Andrew was Chief Financial Officer and Acting Managing Director of MLC Wealth. He also spent nine years at Commonwealth Bank, including four years as the Chief Financial Officer of its Business and Private Banking and Bankwest businesses.
Andrew has considerable banking experience and throughout his career he has demonstrated the ability to transform, simplify and create value for the businesses he has been involved with.
Kerrie Noonan
BCom, AIAA, G FIN, GAICD
Kerrie Noonan lives on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung Peoples of the Eastern Kulin.
Kerrie was appointed Chief Risk Officer in December 2024 with over 30 years of experience in the banking and financial sector.
Kerrie is an experienced Chief Risk Officer with extensive banking and financial services experience in both Australia and the United Kingdom. Kerrie was previously Chief Risk Officer for Retail Insurance Australia at IAG and prior to that held a number of senior roles at National Australia Bank across risk management and business lending.
Throughout her career Kerrie has overseen a range of complex and demanding transformational initiatives, uplifting and embedding risk management capability while delivering sustainable outcomes and improved customer experiences.
Kerrie is an Actuary, has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and has completed the Executive Development Program at The Wharton School.
Kieran O'Meara
BSc, PgDip, MBCS
Kieran lives on the land of the Dja Dja Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Kieran joined the Bank in April 2025 as Chief Technology Officer.
Since starting his career as a software engineer at a US-based financial software product company, Kieran has gained more than 25 years’ experience in software engineering, digital transformation, and technology delivery across fintech, telecommunications and utilities.
Kieran was most recently Chief Information Officer, and Head of Software Engineering & IT at Telstra Group where he led Telstra's Software Engineering and Enterprise IT function. He previously held a number of other technology executive and consulting roles in the UK and Australia.
Kieran has an undergraduate degree in management science (Technology) and completed postgraduate studies in Information Technology, including majors in Object Oriented Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence.
Adam Rowse
Adam Rowse lives on the sovereign lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung Peoples of the Eastern Kulin.
Adam Rowse joined Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in July 2022 as its Chief Customer Officer Business and Agribusiness.
Adam leads the Bank’s business and agribusiness divisions where he ensures customers have the support they need to grow their businesses. He is leading the transformation of this division, which helps the Bank achieve its aim of being Australia's bank of choice.
Prior to taking up his role with the Bank, Adam spent 14 years in the United Kingdom at Barclays Bank.
During his time there, Adam was the Head of Business Banking - where he helped establish Barclays as the number one business and agribusiness bank – alongside a number of other senior roles.
Before joining Barclays, he spent more than a decade at NAB.
Adam, who was raised on a farm in Gippsland, is based in Melbourne.
Xavier Shay
BInfTech
Xavier lives on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Xavier leads the Bank’s Digital division that has responsibility for digital capability across our brands. He has a deep understanding of both financial technology and industry disruption.
Xavier spent nearly seven years in the United States building global fintech Square, where he most recently led their Payments Engineering and Analytics teams. He was subsequently a leadership consultant for executive teams in the Bay Area.
Prior to his move to San Francisco, Xavier led the development of a number of large commercial projects in Australia including at The Conversation, Clear Grain, and ASX-listed global online marketplace Redbubble.
Xavier returned to Melbourne to join Up in April 2019. He has been instrumental in building and scaling Up, as well as leading the award-winning, Australian-first integration with industry disruptors Wise.
Bruce Speirs
B.Com, CA, MBA, GAICD
Bruce Speirs lives on the traditional Country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains.
Bruce Speirs joined the Bank in 2004, holding a number of senior finance and business leadership roles across the Group. In 2015 Bruce was appointed to the Group Executive in the role of Executive Partner Connection, which was responsible for the Bank’s Third-Party Banking businesses and then in 2018 as Executive Business Banking. Bruce was appointed to his current role as Chief Operating Officer in 2022, with a focus on productivity improvements across the Group, further strengthening our processes and practices and reducing complexity in our operations. Bruce is also Bank’s appointed Director on the Board of Tiimely.
Prior to joining Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Bruce worked for Ernst & Young for over 9 years working across Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He is a Chartered Accountant, MBA and AICD Graduate.
Fiona Thompson
BEc, LLB, GAICD
Fiona Thompson lives on the lands of the Dharug people.
Fiona was appointed Chief People Officer in December 2024 with 30 years of experience in financial services. A seasoned finance professional having spent several years at Suncorp and AMP, Fiona has previously held roles such as Chief Risk Officer, Associate General Counsel and Group Executive of People, Culture and Advocacy.
Known for her unique experience across multiple professional disciplines, Fiona has a proven track record in risk management and enterprise enabling functions, particularly in developing and implementing strategy for HR, Risk, ESG and Legal Functions whilst simultaneously delivering cultural change with a focus on growth and innovation.
She invests heavily in building positive work environments and driving team performance and is passionate about providing the incentive and opportunity for people to have rewarding careers in the financial services sector.
Fiona holds degrees in Economics and Law from Macquarie University and is an active member of several industry organisations, dedicated to continuous learning and professional growth. This includes being a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW) for the past seven years.
