Girn was appointed following a three-month search from "a strong field" of both internal and external applicants says the RBA.

Since departing from Westpac in January, Girn has acted as an external consultant to Qantas as the Australian airline revamped its vendor management procedures.

The RBA says Girn will be expected to provide strategic leadership in "transforming and developing the core IT functions" that support the Reserve Bank's policy, operational and corporate objectives.

He will also be able to provide an insider's view on the technical problems afflicting the nation's banks, which has led the central bank to instigate a probe into the sources of vulnerability in bank IT infrastructures and implement a new outage reporting regime.