NBN Co adds new board member

Former Sydney Water managing director Kerry Schott has been appointed to the board of NBN Co, the first board addition since 2009.

Dr Kerry Schott (Credit: Australian Economic Forum)

Schott will join the board immediately, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said. 

She led Sydney Water between 2006 and 2011 and has held other significant infrastructure roles, including positions on the boards of Sydney Water, Infrastructure Australia and as deputy secretary of NSW Treasury's Office of Infrastructure Management.

Schott has also previously been managing director of Deutsche Bank, leading infrastructure work in Australia and Asia, as part of a 15-year career in investment banking.

The move to bolster NBN Co's board comes as the network builder nears completion of a 30-year regulatory framework with the competition watchdog.

The revised documents, submitted last week, would provide the foundation for the company's attempts to secure debt funding for the network and ultimately privatise once the build is complete.