HII Board of Directors
The Hon Greg Pearce
BA LLB
Chair
Appointed November 2021
Experience
Mr Pearce has extensive experience in finance, law and politics with a strong focus on regulated compensation schemes, superannuation and public sector employment. Formerly a partner and Board member of first tier international law firm, Freehills (now Herbert Smith Freehills), Mr Pearce has strong professional and corporate experience and has represented at international agencies. He is a leader and brings innovation, broad experience and independence.
As NSW Minister for Finance and Services, Mr Pearce’s Portfolio included Office of Finance, Public Works, Fair Trading, Industrial Relations, State Revenue, Social Housing, NSW Property, Procurement, plus direct Ministerial control of the Department of Finance and Services, a Central Agency, with a direct spend of $1.7 billion (2012-13) employing 6540 people across State Revenue, Land Titling, State Records, insurance, workers compensation, public servant superannuation schemes with assets of $32 billion and led legislative Reform of Occupational Health &Safety, IR and Workers Compensation.
Other directorships and positions
Since leaving NSW Parliament in 2017 Mr Pearce has undertaken a broad range of projects including for several NSW Government agencies, advice on payroll tax, a mining review relating to rehabilitation of mines, a major international technology company, a new point to point transport option and budgeting and finance for a significant cultural institution. He Chaired a review of NSW public sector employment. Mr Pearce currently serves as the NSW public sector Statutory and other Officers Remuneration Tribunal and on Venues New South Wales.
Scott Whiddett
B. Com, FCA
Director
Appointed: Director in January 2024
Experience
Scott Whiddett is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience, practicing principally in the areas of due diligence advisory, and independent accountant reporting on public company transactions for takeovers, initial public offerings and audit.
Scott has been actively involved (since 1998) in the growth of the Pitcher Partners Sydney practice (and its antecedent firms, White Iliffe and Moore Stephen Sydney); including founding and developing the firm’s advice and corporate finance offering. Scott was a founding Partner in establishing White Outsourcing; a back office administration business that grew to $34 billion of funds under administration before sale in 2013.
Scott enjoys problem solving and working collaboratively with directors, management and corporate advisors on projects; particularly on growth strategies and M&A transactions. He brings strong financial reporting and corporate governance mindset with his listening and problem-solving skills.
Other directorships and positions
Scott is a non-executive director of Employers Mutual Limited. Scott is a partner and director of entities associated with the Pitcher Partners Sydney Accounting and Advisory practice.
David Brown
MBA, GAICD, ANZIIF (Snr Assoc) CIP
Director
Appointed November 2024
Experience
David is a seasoned insurance leader, with over 30 years’ experience in executive positions in both the private and public sector. David was appointed CEO of Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) in 2017 and prior to that was CEO of Hospitality Employers Mutual Limited.
Prior this, David was the General Manager of insurance broking firm, Insurance House, following 20 years as the General Manager of Guild Insurance Limited, growing the business from pharmacy only to insuring the majority of allied health association members.
A collaborative leader, and a proponent of the values-based leadership model, David has also assisted member-based associations in the health care sector with corporate governance, strategy and risk management reviews.
Other Directorships and positions
Mr Brown is a past Vice-President of the Australian Insurance Association, as well as working on various Insurance Council of Australia working groups, the Committee of the Australian Insurance Institute SA Branch and APRA’s General Insurance Liaison Group. David was previously a Director of Pharmacy Support Service (PSS) and currently represents PDL on the Australian Pharmacy Leaders Forum (APLF).
Rebecca Riant
B. Crimm & GAICD
Director
Appointed July 2025
Experience
Rebecca Riant has 30 years’ experience in large financial institutions — notably, 15 years at various US and European investment banks, then 10 years at Westpac and 5 years at the Commonwealth Bank, where she was most recently the Chief Operating Officer for the Institutional Banking and Markets division.
Rebecca commenced as CEO of ClubsNSW in July 2023. She brings extensive expertise in corporate governance, strategy development and execution, crisis management, regulatory remediation, large scale change implementation, commercial negotiations and navigating through complex regulatory environments.
Other Directorships and positions
More recently, Rebecca was Tabcorp’s Chief Operating Officer of Wagering and Media. In September 2022, she joined The Star Sydney (contract role) initially as their Chief Controls and Enablement Officer (NSW) before extending the contract and taking on the role of Chief Controls Officer for The Star Entertainment Group in January 2023, reporting to the CEO.
Paul Baker
LLB GAICD
Director
Appointed May 2018
Experience
Paul Baker has experience in the areas of insurance, reinsurance, commercial and administrative law, risk management, strategy and business management and corporate governance. He is a practising lawyer of more than 35 years and has been Managing Director of Meridian Lawyers since 2004, a law firm which he established and has grown to more than 240 staff.
Other Directorships and positions
Paul is the current Chair of Employers Mutual Limited a position he has held since 2021 having originally been appointed a Director of that company in 2014.Paul has previously served as the legal member of the Commonwealth Governments Consumer Medicines Information Task Force and South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service Ethics Committee. He was also a senior partner of Ebsworth and Ebsworth Lawyers and a former Director of Guild Accountants.
Sean Morrissey
BA LLB GDLP
Director
Appointed September 2022
Experience
A practising lawyer for over 15 years, Mr Morrissey has specialised in employment, industrial relations and workers compensation law. He has held roles in both private practice and in-house, having represented the interests of clients from both the employee and employer perspective.
Mr Morrissey is one of the founding partners and the Principal Solicitor Director of Hospitality Legal, a legal practice owned and operated by the Australian Hotels Association NSW which provides legal services to its hotel members and the hospitality industry more broadly.
Other Directorships and positions
Mr Morrissey currently serves as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Legal Counsel of the Australian Hotels Association NSW. He has previously lectured in Employment Relations in the School of Business at the University of Technology Sydney.
Cameron McCullagh
B. Bus
Director
Appointed February 2007
Experience
He has over 40 years in financial management and over 30 years insurance management experience. Mr McCullagh is currently an Executive Director of COG Financial Services Limited (ASX: COG) and Chair of A.S. White Global Pty Limited. He was Chief Executive Officer of Employers Mutual Limited from 2001 to 2009 and it was during this tenure, he established Hospitality Industry Insurance Limited (HII), a subsidiary of Employers Mutual Limited.
Other Directorships and positions
During 2012 to 2014, as Chief Operating Officer of the insurance broking and underwriting agency accumulator, Steadfast Group Limited, he took operational responsibility for its successful listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.