ASIC appoints new commissioners from Treasury, Choice & CBA

ASIC has appointed Choice CEO Alak Kirland, Treasury first assistant Katherine O’Rourke, and Commonwealth Bank’s Simone Constant as commissioners.

Commissioner Danielle Press will also leave ASIC when her term expires on 16 September 2023. 

O’Rourke will commence from 11 September, while Kirkland and Constant will join on 20 November 2023. 

Kirkland is a consumer advocate with a long history in financial markets and influencing positive reforms for some of the most vulnerable members of the community. He is well known to ASIC through his membership of our ASIC consultative panel, and was a member of the panel for the Ramsay Review, which recommended the establishment of AFCA and the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort. 

O’Rourke returns to ASIC where she worked from 2003 to 2017, leading work on fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and regulatory policy. At Treasury she has held leadership positions with responsibility for data and digital economic reforms, small business policy and regulatory frameworks governing market conduct. 

Constant has extensive experience in financial services and risk management, and has previously worked as a lawyer. She is a former deputy secretary of NSW Treasury and led the NSW Department of Education’s COVID-19 taskforce.