National Australia Bank CIO Michelle Tredenick won the Australian Banking and Finance award for the best CIO, or "eBanker" of 2006 at a gala ceremony in Sydney last night.

Tredenick was up against five other nominees, including Suncorp's Hemant Kogekar, the Bank of Queensland's Jennifer Heffernan, St George Bank's John Loebenstein, Westpac's Simon McNamara, and Nigel Smyth from Macquarie Bank.

When accepting the award Tredenick said she is very proud to be named bank CIO of the year because "it's all about my team".

"The team came together about 18 months ago and has made a fantastic achievement in supporting NAB's turnaround," she said.

Tredenick thanked the NAB's executive leadership team who are "so supportive of actually recognizing the contribution that technology makes to the business".

"We have a really hard road, we have a long way to go, but we have accomplished so much and this is what these awards are all about - just taking a moment to reflect and to celebrate achievements," she said.

Tredenick was appointed NAB CIO in October 2004, leading some 2000 IT employees at the bank.

Since her appointment Tredenick has overseen the integration of the various technology operations into the regional delivery model, and has crafted a new leadership team and is driving a business partnership approach for NAB's technology division.

She came to MLC (now NAB's wealth management division) in 1998 with some 15 years experience in the industry, including executive IT positions at Suncorp and the Lend Lease group.

The awards ceremony is produced by Australian Banking and Finance magazine. Voting is public and "incentive-driven, staff enlisted votes" by nominated companies are not accepted.