NIBA CEO Welcome

40 YEARS OF NIBA

Last month, we celebrated 40 years of NIBA. Whilst celebrating the past, we also looked to the future and held the first NIBA Summit which was followed by the Celebration Dinner.

In preparation for the event, I took the opportunity to look back at the history of NIBA and why NIBA was formed. It’s also interesting to note some of the circumstances of the time. Malcolm Fraser was the Prime Minister and John Howard his Deputy Prime Minister. Australia’s population was just over 15 million, while the cost of living was skyrocketing, with inflation running at 11.07% and mortgage interest rates at 17.5%. There were widespread droughts and bushfires, particularly in Queensland, and one of the century’s worst El Nina events was building.

There were two industry Associations, the Confederation of Insurance Brokers and the Insurance Brokers Association, merging into one to create one voice for all insurance brokers, as a largely unregulated industry became a focus of regulatory reform. Since its establishment back in 1982, NIBA has continued to act as the voice of insurance brokers, and brokers have been at the forefront of assisting clients with risk management and insurance needs.

Fittingly, at a recent meeting with the Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister, the Hon. Stephen Jones MP, he was relieved when I informed him that NIBA is the only body representing brokers in Australia. Speaking at our Summit last month, the Minister was complimentary of the work that brokers do. He reassured us that he didn’t see any particular problems needing to be fixed, and that if there were any issues that needed to be addressed, he would let us know, rather than us having to look over our shoulders all the time.

The Summit certainly was a full house and a great opportunity to reconnect and learn, with the theme of ‘Trust, Professionalism and Community’. A big thank you to all of our presenters and sponsors, who helped to make the event a success.

The Celebration Dinner gave us the opportunity to unwind and celebrate excellence, through the Insurer and Underwriting Agency awards, as judged by brokers through the annual survey conducted by Neilsen IQ, and of course we saw the announcement of the Stephen Ball Broker of the Year and Warren Tickle Young Broker of the Year award winners. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists and thank you again to our sponsors for making the event a great success.

There have been many great moments at NIBA as well as loyal servants over the years – Directors, Presidents, Committee volunteers and even CEOs. We tried to capture some of these moments on the night through a brief video that you can access via the QR code in this issue of Insurance Adviser.

The 2022 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice is now live, and sets new standards in self-regulation. We continue to receive excellent feedback from brokers and have made some enhancements and have removed some ambiguity. Therefore, it is important to ensure you have the most upto-date versions of the Code and the Implementation Guide, dated 24 October 2022. If you do have questions, we will be only too happy to address them. It is important to remember that the Code is designed to ensure that when clients deal with brokers, they will receive consistent professional care, thus ensuring continued success for another 40 years.

On 31 October, Treasury released as part of the Quality of Advice Review the much anticipated proposals in relation to Conflicted Remuneration. The recommendation in the proposals paper is that the payment of a commission to a broker is allowable but must be disclosed and the client must give their consent. The design of this requirement is not yet known.

Noting that these are only proposals at this stage and not the final report, the paper acknowledges that the industry is changing voluntarily and in response to recent changes in law, and the overall theme is supportive of the retention of the current commission structures, which NIBA welcomes.

PHILIP KEWIN

Chief Executive Officer, NIBA