National Health Funding Pool
Toni Cunningham
Administrator
Toni was appointed as the Administrator on 6 November 2023 for a five-year term.
Toni is an expert in public hospital funding models and the systems that support health services to report on their performance in relation to health funding matters. Toni has occupied leadership roles in the public health sector, most recently in executive roles at Queensland Health. Toni’s career, having spanned over forty years, has been predominantly in leadership roles that improved systems and processes for the development of transparency in public sector casemix data collection, including costing, funding and reporting.
To learn more about the Administrator's role, please visit Role of the Administrator.
National Health Funding Body
Shannon White
Chief Executive Officer
Shannon was appointed CEO of the National Health Funding Body in April 2018 and was subsequently reappointed on 1 July 2023 for a further five years.
Shannon has a broad range of experience across national security, economic and social policy environments. Shannon has 30 years’ experience in the APS across Health, Immigration and Border Protection, and Defence with his previous roles having a strong focus on financial management and strategic advice on budget related policy and operational matters.
In his previous senior executive role in Health System Financing at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Shannon worked extensively on national health reform issues and represented the Australian Government at a number of national and international committees. This included health system fiscal sustainability as well as the negotiations on public hospital funding under the two Addendums to the NHR Agreement.
To learn more, please visit Role of the NHFB.
Leonie Clemson
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Leonie Clemson joined the NHFB in September 2025 as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer overseeing the functions of the agency’s Policy, Planning and Performance Team and the Data, Modelling and Analysis Team.
She is a highly experienced senior executive with a passion for strategic leadership, governance, and building organisational capability across the public sector. Prior to joining the NHFB, Leonie worked in the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing leading system-wide assurance and governance functions, managing complex stakeholder relationships, and driving capability uplift initiatives. Leonie is committed to strengthening performance and accountability through internal frameworks and best practice reporting.
Ben Nicholls
Chief Finance Officer
Ben joined the NHFB in February 2024 as the NHFB’s Chief Finance Officer.
As the Chief Finance Officer, Ben oversees the National Health Funding Pool Payments System, National Health Funding Pool daily operations and our departmental budget.
He is passionate about collaborating with stakeholders to achieve positive outcomes and is proud of the work the agency does to improve the transparency of funding.
Prior to joining the NHFB, Ben worked at the Australian National Audit Office for more than 10 years conducting the independent examination of the financial records, transactions and internal controls of Commonwealth entities. Ben is a Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor of Business (Hons.) from Charles Sturt University.
To learn more about the Finance section, please visit Our People.