About CREST Australia New Zealand Ltd

The establishment of CREST ANZ was made possible by a generous one-off grant from the Commonwealth of Australia's Attorney General's Department. CREST Australia New Zealand Ltd is a not for profit company limited by guarantee run on behalf of its Members. CREST ANZ provides cyber security accreditation for companies and individuals and corporate entities and promotes the provision of high quality, best practice information security services according to its Company Constitution.


Approved Member Companies

CREST ANZ Approved Companies have subjected themselves to scrutiny by CREST ANZ and have signed up to the CREST ANZ Company Constitution and Code of Conduct. For more information on becoming a CREST ANZ Approved company, visit the CREST ANZ Membership page.



The Board

CREST Australia New Zealand Ltd has a governing Board who sets the strategic direction and oversight the operations of the company.

David McEwen - Chair

David McEwen is an accomplished Non-Executive Director, CEO and Corporate Advisor with over 20 years of experience in developing strategies to improve profitability, grow the value of shareholders' equity and create successful leadership and operational teams to deliver on the corporate vision. During his career, David worked with a wide range of industries - from Travel Publishing, to Advertising, Telecommunications and Agriculture. David is a recognised leader with the ability to inspire and lead diverse groups of individuals and teams. David is a recognised leader with the ability to inspire and lead diverse groups of individuals and teams.

The CREST ANZ strategy for the next 12 months will demonstrate value to existing and prospective members by focusing on opportunities to grow new revenues which will strengthen and grow the organisation. Secondly, we will improve the profile of CREST ANZ by providing online media sites content position CREST ANZ as a thought leader and the peak industry body of the industry. I look forward to meeting new and prospective members and also key influencers in government, education and industry.

Ajay Unni - Director

Ajay is the CEO and founder of StickmanCyber, a business that helps companies mitigate their cyber security risks through a combination of strategy, governance, prevention, monitoring, detection and response.

He has over has over 30+ years' IT industry experience, with over 15 years as a cyber security specialist. He has helped many large organisations with their cyber security including SG Fleet, Ausgrid, Chartered Accountants ANZ, Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, National Storage, 277 Health, Brisbane Airport, The ICONIC, Australian Clinical Labs, Cover-More and Australian Institute of Business.

Ajay was selected to join the 2020 NSW Government's Cyber Security Task Force, a carefully curated group of experts tasked with accelerating the adoption of industry standards for cybersecurity across Australia and also contributed to the 2021 NSW Government Cybersecurity Strategy.

Daminda Kumara - Director

Daminda is currently heading the Cybersecurity function for the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (Australian Federal Government agency). With over 25 years of experience in information technology, he has worked with global organisations across manufacturing, supply chain, construction, and safety industries to help operate and implement mission-critical technology services. Daminda is also a visiting associate professor for Macquarie University's cyber security hub and was appointed as a non-executive director for CREST Australian and NZ 2019.

Martin Boyd - Director

Martin is the CEO for Vertex Cyber Security, a business whose aim is to protect and hack a range of businesses across many industries and companies, including: Built, Spaceship, Nano, Government, BeforePay, small businesses, Top 50 ASX etc.

Prior to that, he worked at CBA for a decade, including the role of Executive Manager of Cyber Security for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

John Powell - Director

John is a non-executive director, speaker, cyber security advisor and Telstra Purple Ambassador.

He approaches information security consulting with a business focus and an array of skills and experience that cover areas including governance, risk, design, implementation and operation. His time in the ICT sector has spanned more than 30 years working at both technical and leadership levels across compute, storage, network and security domains.

In recent years, John has been using this breadth and depth of Information Systems experience to provide security consulting services to Telstra Purple customers. He is currently the Security Principal for Telstra Purple in Queensland and oversees the development and delivery of security services in this region while also providing leadership in governance and risk across other regions. John is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a graduate of the company directors course and a director of Australian National Cyber Institute and a founding member of the Active Cyber Defence Alliance.

John's vision is to improve the security posture of Australia by applying cyber security risk and technical innovation expertise in boardrooms as both a director and an advisor.

Anthony Goodier - Director

Anthony, currently serving as the Head of Assurance at InfoTrust, an Australian-based cybersecurity consultancy, brings a unique blend of experience to the realm of cybersecurity. Having started his professional journey as a British Army soldier, Anthony transitioned to the world of cybersecurity and became a highly talented, self-taught penetration tester.

His ability to understand the security needs of complex and classified systems singled him out as a leader in his field and afforded him invaluable experience testing the UK government's national infrastructure under GCHQ's CHECK scheme. His technical expertise extends to assisting a global client base in identifying and remedying vulnerabilities in their systems, showcasing a commitment to enhancing cybersecurity on a global scale. In a career marked by diverse accomplishments, Anthony also played a pivotal role in the transformation of Blackberry from a phone manufacturing entity to a software and services business.

Anthony's journey reflects a dedication to ensuring the security and resilience of digital landscapes, making him a trusted professional in the ever-evolving field of cybersecurity.


Leadership

George Bej - CEO

George Bej has been CEO of Crest ANZ since 2019. He is an accomplished global executive in the strategy, consulting and transformation services sector, with a proven track record in all aspects of running and transforming businesses. Over the past four years, he has served as Director of Strativity Group, a global member | customer experience consultancy that has delivered major strategy formulation and deployment programs with leading organisations in Australia and across the globe. He is simultaneously a Director of Optimize, a strategy | consulting firm specializing in rapid, sustainable growth for its clients. Earlier in his career, George served as CMO at Laminex Industries, a Fletcher Building Company and prior to that, held senior executive roles across a range of industries and organizations in a career that spans 30 years.

George has implemented customer and member focused change programs that have led to revenue growth, improved retention and bottom line. He specializes in accelerating business performance, bringing disciplines, tools and insights that underpin successful transformation programs. George's approach to market penetration, new product | service development and introduction draws upon disruption theory, design thinking, entrepreneurialism and innovation and he has brought much of this to the fore in his extensive work. George is MBA qualified (Macquarie Graduate School of Management) and has undertaken and completed significant tertiary education in the disciplines of leadership, strategic planning, change management, organisational restructuring and performance management.