Deng Gichuru, chief risk officer and company secretary at Westfund Health Insurance, wins this award for redefining the role of the CRO within Australia's mutual and private health insurance (PHI) sector, and by demonstrating how the risk function can contribute to strategy, innovation and member value.
His leadership over the past year has delivered stronger governance, improved operational resilience and firmly embedded risk as a driver of organisational success. His impact is both structural and cultural, positioning Westfund and the broader mutual PHI sector as leaders in governance across the region.
When he stepped into the CRO role, Gichuru had a vision to evolve risk from a compliance watchdog into a strategic partner. To that end, he set three priorities: first, to integrate risk into strategy and capital decisions ensuring that major initiatives are assessed through a prudential and sustainability lens. Second, to anticipate and embed emerging risks, including ESG, climate, cyber and AI into Westfund's enterprise framework so the business would be prepared for the challenges on the horizon. Third, he emphasised risk culture by empowering staff to understand their role in managing risk and become accountable for controls, while giving them confidence to raise issues.
As both CRO and company secretary, Gichuru operates at the intersection of risk and governance, balancing the needs of the business with the oversight responsibilities of the board.
One initiative that exemplifies this is how he redesigned Westfund's director skills matrix into a dynamic framework that is refreshed annually through director self-assessments, peer input and mapping against emerging risk themes. The matrix now informs board renewal, succession planning and helps to identify training needs among directors. It is also linked deep-dives topics such as operational resilience, climate transition and reverse stress testing, ensuring the board is equipped for current and future challenges.
Gichuru's foresight is also reflected in Westfund's early adoption of governance reforms linked to the CPS 230 regulation on operational resilience, which included a new register of significant service providers and updates to the oversight policy for third parties. He instituted a 72-hour incident escalation rule to the board and embedded independent control reviews and remediation cycles into governance reporting. The importance of the reforms was demonstrated when the new controls helped uncover critical IT dependencies before they impacted members.
The enhanced assurance measures have also allowed Westfund to pursue digital health initiatives, knowing that privacy, sustainability and regulatory commitments are safeguarded. This reflects Gichuru's philosophy that risk should enable transformation, not constrain it.
Beyond Westfund, Gichuru's influence extends across the sector. He has served as deputy chair of the Member Health Funds Alliance GRC Forum and Fraud Forum, shaping sector-wide approaches to governance and compliance. He also established a CRO Centre of Excellence network, where CROs can share successes, challenges and innovations in a trusted forum. In addition, his participation in roundtables organised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) and Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals roundtables has ensured that the voice of mutual PHIs is represented in regulatory dialogue.
The measurable outcomes of his leadership are evident in improved solvency monitoring, shorter remediation timelines to control issues, and a demonstrable uplift in staff accountability as shown through risk culture surveys. This has elevated Westfund to an industry exemplar among similar mid-tier insurers for its maturity in governance and resilience.
Ultimately, Gichuru has reshaped expectations of what a CRO can deliver. He has translated technical expertise into strategic value, strengthened resilience for the benefit of members, and advanced capability not only within Westfund but across the mutual PHI sector.
Commenting on the outlook for Australia’s mutual and not-for-profit (NFP) private health-insurance sector, Gichuru says it is entering a defining period that is shaped by cost-of-living pressures, increasing member expectations and a rapidly evolving health-care landscape.
He says: "In this environment, mutual NFP health funds are uniquely placed to support Australians, because our purpose is fundamentally different from shareholder-owned insurers. Every surplus is reinvested directly into supporting our members through fairer premiums, stronger benefits and programs that improve health and wellbeing.
"As affordability and trust become more important to households, the mutual model is proving more relevant than ever. Looking ahead, the sector’s opportunity lies in combining this purpose driven structure with strong governance, operational resilience and innovation, creating long-term value for members while strengthening Australia’s broader health ecosystem."