AILA President's message
Angus Kench

AILA board forms triple C project team

The AILA board has embarked on a review of revenue, sponsorships and memberships to ensure your association continues to remain relevant with a clear value proposition for all members.

We have established a subcommittee of Cameron Roberts, Chris Rodd and Chrissy Cheesman – the three Cs – to report to the board. Initial discussions include:

• Leveraging AILA's role as a national organisation and part of a global association
• Increasing AILA's relevance with industry – insurers, reinsurers and brokers
• Re-evaluating the value proposition to help build membership numbers
• Reflecting the level of seminar and event offerings in each state in member pricing
• Evaluating member, non-member, YP and industry pricing for events
• Considering corporate memberships for insurers and brokers as part of the membership mix.

AILA patron

The board is considering appointing a national patron to further strengthen AILA's standing in the industry and help differentiate the association.

Cameron Roberts will assemble a list of possible patrons and report back to the next board meeting.

Mentoring programs

A voluntary mentoring program is being considered to help AILA expand brand recognition and increase services available to appeal to a wider audience and increase AILA's member value proposition.

Guidelines for mentors and mentees need to be developed. Such programs are only as good as the time people are prepared to commit to them, and that could be a challenge for a volunteer-run entity like AILA. The program could be trialled in Victoria and possibly NSW, although any state with an appetite for a mentoring program would be encouraged to participate.

There will be more discussions with state YPs to gauge their level of interest.

Life insurance

AILA has not penetrated life insurance with much success over the years. We are an insurance law association and should not be constrained to general insurance only.

NSW is developing a life program with two events in 2017. Stanley Drummond is leading the charge. He has developed content for the two seminars and is contacting people in the life and super industries to become friends of AILA. See Stan's article in this issue.

Other states are showing an interest, which is very encouraging.

Young professionals

Co-chairs of the national YP sub-committee, Dan Robinson and Jessica Beard, joined the last board meeting.

Following formation of the sub-committee in 2016 the number of events and seminars tailored to YPs has been wonderful. Events include technical law education, soft skills training and networking opportunities.

A new YP page will be part of a new-look AILA website. University students are being engaged to assist with event registration desks.

AILA YPs are in dialogue with some international branches, including BILA, to increase connections, networking and educational opportunities.

Ron Shorter public speaking awards

It's exciting to see all branches (except NT) now involved in the 2017 Ron Shorter Awards. Increased Unisearch sponsorship and CBP's continued heavy involvement is applauded. Without that support, the event would not continue to grow and offer YPs such a wonderful experience.

The first marketing flyer has been distributed and further flyers will continue to promote the event.

Sir Ninian Stephen Masterclass

The Sir Ninian Stephen Masterclass will run in 2017 in WA organised by Greg Pynt with some AILA assistance. Victoria has expressed interest in the event returning there and expressions of interest will be sought from all states.

Geoff Masel Memorial Lecture

AILA is considering alternative ways to host the Geoff Masel Memorial Lecture series. It is now challenging to find a speaker who can contribute such an extensive amount of time to deliver the lecture across the county in each branch.

Regional Conference 2017 in Singapore

David Lee, Chris Rodd and I have been heavily involved with the inaugural Asia Pacific insurance conference. It is shaping up very well and will attract participants from across the globe. Registrations are open and marketing has started.

The speaker list is complete and the full program will be published soon.

Everyone is encouraged to attend. Go to www.apacinsuranceconference.com.

National Conference 2018 in Perth

The AILA National Conference returns to Perth in 2018. Planning is in progress with dates and venues close to being locked in.

National events

AILA hosted a booth at the Steadfast conference in Sydney on 1-4 April. We are extremely grateful to Robert Kelly and Steadfast for allowing AILA the opportunity to showcase the association at the annual Steadfast conference.

The annual general insurance law review has been held in Qld, NSW and Victoria. All were very successful and other states are considering hosting the event in 2018.

Thanks to all AILA's generous sponsors, volunteers and active members. AILA provides wonderful educational and networking opportunities and I encourage you all to be involved in whatever way you can.