David Thodey AO FAICD

David Thodey is a business leader focused on innovation, technology, digital transformation and telecommunications with more than 40 years of experience.

Mr Thodey is Chairman of Xero (2020), a global cloud-based accounting solution for small and medium businesses and a member of the Finance Committee at the University of Sydney (2022).

He is currently a non-executive Board director of Ramsay Health Care (2018), and in June this year was appointed Chairman in Waiting , formally moving into the Chair role after the company’s annual meeting in November.

In February 2022, Mr Thodey was also appointed Chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, an Australian non-profit organisation established to help protect and preserve the Great Barrier Reef. He is also co-chair of the Climate Leaders Coalition.

From 2015-2021, Mr Thodey was Chair of Australia’s national scientific research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).  He was also Chair of Tyro from 2018-2023, Australia’s largest independent payments company.

Mr Thodey is also active in public policy and led an Independent Review of the Australian Public Service (APS) in 2019 (commissioned by the Prime Minister).  He also chaired an eminent Panel appointed by the NSW Government to lead an independent review of Federal Financial Relations (2020) between the Commonwealth and the States. Mr Thodey recently (2023) led a user audit of the myGov government services digital portal. The audit reviewed how well myGov is performing for the Australian public in terms of reliability, functionality, and a user-friendly experience.

From March to December 2020, Mr Thodey was Deputy Chair of the Federal Government’s National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCC) Advisory Board. During this time Mr Thodey and the Board supported the Prime Minister and Government to navigate Australia through the extraordinary challenges faced during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to his non-executive career, he had a successful career as CEO of Telstra (2009-2015), Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company; and prior to that, he was CEO of IBM Australia and New Zealand (1998-2001). 

Mr Thodey was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science and Technology from Deakin University in 2016, an Honorary Doctor of Business from University of Technology Sydney in 2018 and an Honorary Doctor of Business from the University of Sydney in May 2023.

In 2017, Mr Thodey was made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for ethical business leadership.