NDIS chief plunders Bankwest for senior talent

The scheme’s chief has replaced a deputy and two senior general managers with former staff from his time running Bankwest.

NDIS chief executive Rob de Luca in his Bankwest days.

The chief executive of the ­National Disability Insurance Scheme has replaced a deputy, two senior general managers and another high-ranking direct report at the agency with former staff from his time running Bankwest.

Rob De Luca, who was appointed last July after resigning from a five-year tenure as managing director of the Perth-based Bankwest, poached the bank’s ­former head of strategy Anthony Vella and installed him as a deputy chief executive in charge of strategy and risk.

Two other former employees of the chief executive from Bankwest, David Sharpham and Karun Gupta, have been appointed as senior general managers in Mr Vella’s team.

Another Bankwest general manager, Antonia Albanese, has taken up a role in charge of market and provider development at the agency, reporting directly to Mr De Luca.

Victor Walter, a veteran of QBE Insurance and its former chief financial officer, has taken on that role at the National Disability Insurance Agency, and an insurance expert, Michael Francis, has been appointed deputy chief executive in charge of participants and planning experience.

Of the four deputy positions at the agency, three are public servants but one is an independent contractor, which allows the position to be paid outside the usual band for senior bureaucrats.

According to leaked emails previously reported by The Australian, the agency was warned last year in written advice from the Australian Government Solicitor about its overuse of independent contractors.

Mr De Luca has set about remaking the agency in Bankwest’s image and has even borrowed a performance program from the bank — Brilliant Orange — and renamed it Brilliant Purple to reflect the NDIS logo colour.

“In my early days, I remember believing that surrounding myself with like-minded people would allow me to drive the best outcomes,” Mr De Luca wrote on his LinkedIn profile late in 2016 as he prepared to step down from the bank.

“Years later, I recognised how wrong I was. Success is born from fostering different perspectives, constantly challenging the status quo and building sustainable outcomes that mirror and shape the world we live in.”

An NDIA spokeswoman said all “senior appointments are merit-based and have been made following the appropriate process. CEO direct-report executive appointments have been approved by the NDIA board governance process.”