Mathew Paine

Lead enterprise-wide people and culture strategy for a high-growth regulatory body with national operations. As a strategic partner to the CEO, COO, Board and other leaders in the business, I lead a skilled, professional HR team of 30+ which ensures AFCA has the right people strategy, culture, resources and tools to ensure that it is a high performing, agile organisation, well-positioned to achieve its long-term goals.

Achievements:

• Expanded workforce by 42% (from 950 to 1,350 employees) within 12 months through strategic workforce planning, capability uplift, and targeted recruitment, enabling national service delivery growth.

• Implemented a new target operating model and expanded the senior executive team from 4 to 7 members, coaching leaders to strengthen leadership capability, improving governance oversight, and delivering measurable improvements in organisational efficiency and service standards.

• Designed and implemented a 3-year workforce strategy aligned to organisational growth, increasing internal mobility by 30% and reducing recruitment spend by 22%.

• Introduced a Board-approved executive succession and leadership framework, ensuring 100% coverage of critical roles and reducing time-to-fill for senior appointments by 40%.

• Led a culture transformation program that improved employee engagement by 7 points and secured national recognition, including:

o Winner – AFR Best Places to Work 2024 (Top 5 in Australia's Financial Services sector, AFR BOSS 2023)

o Winner – HR Team of the Year, Australian HR Awards 2024

o Winner – Most Inclusive Workplace, AHRI Awards 2024

o Winner – Employer of Choice (Public Sector & NFP), Australian HR Awards 2023 & 2024

o Certified Family Friendly Workplace & Bronze Employer, Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) 2023

Led a 250-member People & Culture (HR) team during the merger and integration of seven NSW Government Departments across a cluster of 17,000 employees and an AUD$1.79 billion annual workforce budget. Responsible for significant culture transformation, strategic HR direction and development of policies, programs, and procedures in compliance with federal and state laws. Led HR technology harmonisation efforts and the development of new business divisions and multiple COVID relief stimulus projects, including recruiting over 1000+ people in 12 months.

Achievements:

• Directed the OD component of the merger of 7 government departments (17,000+ FTE) into a single streamlined entity, delivering a 20% improvement in service efficiency and 15% reduction in workforce costs (~AUD$34M).

• Designed and implemented a new target operating model and organisational structure, streamlining service delivery and increasing operational agility across the cluster.

• Implemented a diversity and inclusion strategy that increased women in senior leadership to 51% and employees with disability by 3.3%, strengthening representation and workplace equity.

• Consolidated multiple HR systems into SAP SuccessFactors, delivering AUD $5M in cost savings and improving reporting efficiency.

• Developed and rolled out a talent and succession framework for 10,000+ roles, increasing internal promotion rates by 28% and reducing reliance on external recruitment, saving AUD $750K annually.

• Delivered large-scale change management programs for COVID-19 stimulus and bushfire recovery initiatives, hiring over 1,000 staff across critical projects on time and within budget.

• Increased employee engagement by 5 percentage points in the NSW People Matter Survey through targeted leadership and culture programs.

• Implemented talent mapping, talent calibration, and succession planning for a cohort of 450 senior executives.

Led HR during the critical growth period of this greenfield $1.5 billion project at Sydney's Darling Harbour, including the development and implementation of all strategic people initiatives. Reported directly to the CEO and worked with the executive team and board to develop internal growth, build people and process capabilities, drive a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence, and strengthen the business alignment of the HR function.

Achievements:

• Scaled workforce by 2000% (from 10 to 2,000+ employees) in six months for the $1.5B ICC Sydney opening, enabling $125M in first-year revenue while maintaining an 82% engagement score.

• Managed a $3M pre-opening HR budget and $1M employer brand campaign, attracting 44,000 applications and winning the Australian HR Awards - Best Recruitment Campaign.

• Designed and delivered end-to-end talent acquisition and onboarding strategies, policies, and tools to build operational readiness for launch.

• Negotiated the ICC Sydney Enterprise Agreement with a 96% employee approval vote, embedding industry-leading provisions on flexibility and gender transition (an Australian first ratified by the Fair Work Commission).

• Led the organisation-wide Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and a TAFE enterprise partnership delivering over $1M in workforce capability development.

• Recognised in the Top 20 Australian HR Directors (Human Resource Director Magazine) in 2016, 2017, and 2019.

• Multiple awards including:

o NSW Training Awards – Large Employer of the Year (2018)

o Australian HR Awards – HR Team of the Year, HR Director of the Year, Best Use of HR Technology (2017)

o Finalist/Winner across Talent Development, Inclusive Workplace, Best Reward Program, Best Diversity Program, and Best L&D Program (2017–2019)