Australian Unity appoints chief executive

Australian Unity has appointed Christine Yates as chief executive for retail.

Yates joins from Bank of New Zealand/NAB where she was the chief customer officer for the private, wealth, and insurance arms of the organisation.

"I am delighted Christine will be joining our team," said Australian Unity group managing director Rohan Mead. "Christine is an innovative, values-driven leader who is focused on creating sustainable businesses that make sense.

"Christine's leadership and interpersonal style will transfer well to Australian Unity and I am confident she will have a substantial impact in the group as we move through our next growth phase."

"This is a challenging time for everyone and I look forward to being able to serve the community, the members and the customers of this wonderful organisation," Yates wrote on LinkedIn.

Yates became chief customer officer at the Bank of New Zealand in early 2019. She was previously held senior roles with NAB including executive GM for NAB Private. She spent more than four years as executive director for institutional banking at ANZ and the head of utilities and infrastructure for the Citi corporate bank.

Yates replaces Matt Walsh, who has announced his retirement earlier this year.