Ex-NAB boss Andrew Thorburn named HammondCare CEO

The former chief executive of NAB and, briefly, AFL club Essendon resurfaces after a year off to lead the independent Christian charity and aged care provider.

After taking a year off, former NAB boss Andrew Thorburn has been named as chief executive of HammondCare. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Former National Australia Bank boss Andrew Thorburn has been named chief executive of independent Christian charity and aged care provider HammondCare.

Mr Thorburn, who resigned from the big four lender in the aftermath of the banking royal commission, replaces outgoing CEO and former NSW premier Mike Baird and will step into the role in June.

HammondCare chair Kok Kong Chan said Mr Thorburn’s business and leadership experience would help the provider respond to the challenges and opportunities of the fast-growing aged care sector.

“This appointment positions HammondCare well for the sweeping changes underway in the care of older Australians following the royal commission, Covid and far-reaching regulatory and compliance reform,” Mr Chan said.

“Aged care is a complex business with great opportunities in the years ahead for HammondCare to help even more people through its mission to improve the quality of life for people in need.”

Mr Thorburn’s appointment comes just over a year after the former banker went on sabbatical, resigning from various board positions and his senior adviser role at Boston Consulting Group in the wake of ongoing backlash over his links to a controversial church.

The backlash was sparked by Mr Thorburn’s appointment – and resignation a day later – as Essendon Football Club’s chief executive, with the club heavily criticised for their choice because of Mr Thorburn’s religious beliefs.

The Melbourne-based Mr Thorburn is a member of ultraconservative City on a Hill church, which has, in the past, likened abortion to concentration camps and claimed practising homosexuality was a sin.

In a statement announcing his resignation from Essendon in October 2022, Mr Thorburn lamented that his personal Christian faith was “not tolerated or permitted in the public square”.

Months later, he resigned as chairman of the church. At the same time, he quit his chairman roles at Sentient Impact Group and Catalyst Education, announcing on social media he was taking a year off from his formal responsibilities.

It is not the first time Mr Thorburn has taken a period of extended leave. After a gruelling year for the banking sector through the 2018 royal commission, Mr Thorburn in December of that year surprised the market by announcing he would take a period of long service leave just weeks out from the release of the commission’s final report.

But scathing criticism by royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne, not only of Mr Thorburn but also NAB chair Ken Henry, cut his leave short. Within days, both had handed in their resignations.

Mr Thorburn’s return to corporate life has a religious element, with Christian charity HammondCare founded by Anglican clergyman Rev Bob Hammond. Mr Thorburn on Monday said he was honoured to join the aged care provider.

“I am inspired by HammondCare’s great history of responding to needs in areas as diverse as dementia, palliative care, homelessness, and the fast-growing area of care in the home,” he said.

“Serving alongside the remarkable team, motivated to care for all people unconditionally, will be a privilege.”

He will join HammondCare on June 17, with Mr Baird moving on from the top job earlier that month. Mr Baird joined HammondCare from NAB, where he worked under Mr Thorburn as chief customer officer.