New South Wales

by Alexandra Bartlett, President

AILA NSW is in a return to form post Covid-19 and the branch continues to put on key events.

It has been a busy quarter for AILA’s Young Professionals networking committee. For the first time since the pandemic, the YP@AILA annual networking event was scheduled for Thursday 1 June. To celebrate the event’s return, there was entertainment and a stunning outlook from The View by Sydney.

AILA NSW’s well-regarded Twilight Seminar Series resumes with the first of the series on 7 June 2023, kindly hosted by long-standing series supporter Minter Ellison. David McLure SC starts the series by speaking on the important High Court decision in Allianz v Delor Vue. Excellent ticketing options are available for the series and individual seminars.

Planning continues for events later in the year. AILA NSW members are very much looking forward to catching up with friends and colleagues at this year’s World Insurance Congress Australia in Melbourne from 30 August to 1 September.

Victoria

by Darren Ferrari, President

Since my last update, we have held the Victorian branch AGM.

At the AGM, we welcomed the following new members onto the committee:

Sophie Crowther – Wotton + Kearney
Dion Gooderham – Catholic Church Insurance Ltd
Marian Morton – Minter Ellison
Kelly Grant – Kennedys
Niddhe Nattraj – Clyde & Co.

Lesley-Anne Butler, from Aon, joined the committee as a casual vacancy after the AGM.

It is great to have such an influx of new members and ideas just in time for AILA’s 40th anniversary and WICA 2023 in Melbourne. View the full committee here.

It is incredibly exciting to have WICA 2023 just around the corner. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage as many of you as possible to register. It should be a great show.

YP@ AILA welcomed more than 90 guests to the Imperial Hotel in Melbourne for the (soon to be time honoured) YP trivia event. Fifteen teams competed for some serious prizes, most notably the Eighth Edition of Mann’s Annotated Insurance Contracts Act. The drinks were cold, the food hot and tasty and competition fierce. Congratulations to Let’s get Quizzical and Quizzical Impairment on taking out first prize jointly.

The Victorian and YP committees would like to thank sponsors McInnes Wilson, Kennedys, Lander & Rogers, Wotton + Kearney, Thomson Geer and Clarity Workplace Solutions and all attendees for making such a great event possible. A huge shout ou tto staff at the Imperial Hotel who catered the event superbly and YP sub-committee leads Jack Marshall and Kelly Grant.

We are starting to plan for an exciting event to celebrate AILA’s 40th anniversary. More details to come.

Tasmania

by Lisa Rankin, Branch President

Tassie started the year with a localised version of the General Insurance Law Review.

It was a great event and thank you to speakers Michael O’Farrell SC and Alexandra Darcy for their insightful commentary.

On 28 April, an event was scheduled in Launceston to bring together industry members from all around the state. The committee is focused on trying to provide educational and networking opportunities state-wide and anticipated this would mark a successful start to that endeavor.

Planning is well in progress for the biggest event on the Tasmanian insurance calendar, the Workers’ Compensation Masterclass in August. Save the date notes and tickets will be available soon.

Queensland

by Alexandra King, Secretary

March 2023 saw Queensland’s Annual General Insurance Intensive Law Review breakfast.

Presenters were Katie Clark (Minter Ellison), Paul Baxter (Hall & Wilcox), Brooke Jacobs (Holman Webb), counsel Marjorie Daley and Jacinta Long (Clyde & Co).

The Qld branch is grateful to the presenters for donating their time and expertise.

The event was attended by 71 guests who were treated to an in-depth review of the latest decisions on duty of care and causation, policy construction, class actions and the application of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984.

On 4 May 2023, we welcomed attendees to the full-day Qld Insurance Intensive, Insurance Awakens, at the Calile Hotel. Keynote speaker Patrick Keane AC, a former High Court Justice and former Chief Justice of the Federal Court, discussed how the industry must prepare for uncertainty, as insured risks become unusually perilous.

The program included market analysis, substantive law and ethical challenges. Coverage will be included in the August issue of Resolve.

Western Australia

by Andrew Lillico, President

The AILA WA committee began 2023 with a strong start and momentum continued into the second quarter.

We welcomed several new and returning members onto the committee who are bringing renewed passion and energy into some exciting new work streams for AILA WA.

We have increased our engagement with NIBA, ANZIIF and YIPS and have some collaborative events planned for 2023, focused on young professionals.

The WA iteration of the Annual General Insurance Law Review kicked off the year’s events with more than 100 attendees, followed by an excellent seminar on the High Court decision on the Parkerville fires (Western Power v Herridge Parties & Ors) by Paul Mendelow, the barrister who acted for one of the plaintiffs.

In May, we had barrister and broker perspectives on the High Court decision in Allianz v Delor Vue Apartments, a consideration on utmost good faith.

Stay tuned for our line-up for the rest of the year.