THE FOUNDER
Thomas Collins, GAICD
Thomas Collins is the founder of Meridian Governance and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. For 25 years he has led complex, high-stakes change inside the organisations boards are accountable for: banks, energy networks, transport, and government.
He has run the programs where governance is tested in practice, not on paper. At APA Group he initiated the operational resilience and SOCI compliance program spanning roughly 120 critical-infrastructure sites. At ANZ he led the Worldline migration of 62,000 merchants, building the Go/No-Go and recovery frameworks a board leans on when the stakes are highest. He built a $200M federal business case that withstood 18 rounds of review before it was cleared for cabinet consideration. Work like that lives or dies on risk judgement, assurance, and the quality of what actually reaches the board.
He has briefed steering committees with board-level representation, including the ANZ–Worldline migration, and worked inside risk, audit, investment, and technology governance forums. He now serves on the board of the Australian Transformation and Turnaround Association. Again and again he has watched the board's view and the organisation's reality drift apart. Meridian exists to close that gap. An MBA in finance from Melbourne Business School, paired with deep operational experience, is why his advice is practical, not theoretical.
Credentials
Graduate, Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)
MBA, Finance major — Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne
Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance — Kaplan Professional
Bachelor of Information Technology — Central Queensland University
Board Member — Australian Transformation and Turnaround Association
25 years across financial services, energy, transport, government & education
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Four principles behind every engagement.
Clarity beats comprehensiveness.
A board can act on three clear findings. It drowns in thirty. We do the work of deciding what matters.
Independence is the product.
No audit to protect, no software to sell. Our only interest is telling you what we actually see.
Governance is judgement, not paperwork.
Frameworks are a starting point. The value is in the interpretation.
The board's time is the scarcest asset.
Every engagement is built to respect it. Sharp inputs, faster decisions.
HOW WE'RE DIFFERENT
Not a management consultancy. Not an academic. An advisor.
Want to know if Meridian is the right fit?
The fastest way to find out is a short conversation. No pitch, no pressure.
