Jane Hemstritch to join Telstra Board

Media Release, 11 August 2016

The Telstra Board today announced the appointment of experienced director and former Accenture regional managing director Jane Hemstritch, 62, as a non-executive Director.

Telstra Chairman John Mullen said Ms Hemstritch’s history of directorships and professional services, including in communications and technology, made her a highly suitable candidate.

Ms Hemstritch has held a range of significant director positions since leaving Accenture in 2007, having been Asia-Pacific Managing Director for three years during a 25-year career with the organisation.

“Jane offers a great deal of experience as a director and an executive. She was Accenture’s managing director for communications and high tech in Australia then Asia-Pacific over five years, and a former lead partner on the Telstra account for five years before that. We are pleased to welcome her to the Telstra Board,” Mr Mullen said.

Ms Hemstritch was with Accenture in Australia from 1982 to 2007, prior to which she worked for the Pannell Kerr Forster accounting firm in Melbourne and London.

Her current Board positions include Lend Lease Group, Tabcorp Holdings, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Victorian Opera Company, as well as the National Library of Australia Council and Herbert Smith Freehills Global Council. Among previous commitments, she was a Director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd from 2006, and Santos Ltd from 2010, until earlier this year.

She holds a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Physiology) with first class honours from the University of London. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, a Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and a Certified Practising Accountant.

Ms Hemstritch will also serve as a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Her appointment is effective from 12 August 2016. She will stand for election by shareholders at Telstra’s Annual General Meeting in October.

Following this appointment, the Telstra Board will comprise 11 Directors: Chairman John Mullen, CEO Andrew Penn and directors Craig Dunn, Peter Hearl, Jane Hemstritch, Russell Higgins AO, Chin Hu Lim, Nora Scheinkestel, Margaret Seale, Steven Vamos and Trae Vassallo.