Former Lumley Insurance CEO John Nagle has been appointed Executive Director of WorkCover Insurance in NSW.

The move comes under a shake-up at the State Government’s division of Safety, Return to Work and Support (SRWS), aimed at instilling a more commercial focus among the workers’ compensation and insurance operations.

Mr Nagle is a former EGM corporate at Suncorp and COO of retail at Vero.

The CEO of SRWS, Vivek Bhatia, says Mr Nagle’s appointment will “help to build the capability and commercial focus” of WorkCover Insurance.

WorkCover Insurance writes $2.5 billion in premium and manages more than $16.9 billion in assets and claims liabilities of $14.4 billion.

The insurance function at SRWS has been separated into two parts: WorkCover Insurance, which provides protection for 266,000 employers and 3.1 million workers; and Workers’ Compensation Insurance Regulation, which regulates WorkCover Insurance and all specialised and self-insurers.

Caroline Walsh has been appointed Executive Director of Workers’ Compensation Insurance Regulation.

Ms Walsh has held senior positions with the federal safety and workers’ compensation agency Comcare for the past eight years, including GM insurance, GM claims management support and COO.

Stuart Bremner has been appointed CIO. He was previously MD of Gareth Morgan Investments New Zealand, GM wealth and insurance at Kiwibank and CEO of Kiwi Insurance.

He will oversee development of the agency’s information and communications technology.