The Australian Insurance Law Association has a new president.
Melanie Quixley, a principal with the Brisbane office of Barry Nilsson, has assumed the role from Cameron Roberts, a partner with Thomson Geer in Melbourne, who held the position for five years.
Scott Duell, an underwriter at Strata Community Insurance in Adelaide, has moved from his role as AILA secretary to vice president and Andrew Lillico, government insurance division commercial claims section manager with the Insurance Commission of Western Australia, is the new secretary.
Jillian Pancott, director of forensic advisory services at Sedgwick in Sydney, continues in her role as treasurer.
The new leadership team was finalised at a national board meeting following AILA’s annual general meeting on Friday 27 October.
Ms Quixley, who has been on the board for five years, says the association has been through a pandemic-driven period of adapting to new ways of doing business and she plans to consolidate that.
“We’ll be streamlining and modernising with a continued emphasis on providing value for members,” she says.
A new, more accessible website is about to come online which includes an improved membership management system to facilitate easier member communications.
It is seven years since AILA has had a female president and Ms Quixley says she will emphasise diversity, equity and inclusion throughout her presidency.
Like the outgoing president, she is keen to promote AILA as an association for everyone in insurance, regardless of their job description.
Ms Quixley paid tribute to Mr Roberts for his achievements across five years.
They included a major rebranding, overseeing the merger of the National Product Liability Association into AILA and encouraging greater industry involvement by establishing a new industry membership rate 75% below the standard rate.
Mr Roberts oversaw AILA’s transition to online webinars during the Covid-19 years.
He said: “While that pivot was a product of necessity, there have been great ancillary benefits as it has enabled AILA to reach into regional areas and for members to hear and see presentations that were previously outside their geographic locations.”
While AILA has returned to hosting some face-to-face events, it has adopted a hybrid model with webinars continuing at affordable costs.
Mr Roberts’ term of office saw AILA establish reciprocal membership arrangements with the Singapore and New Zealand chapters of AIDA, the international insurance law association, and host the 2023 AIDA World Insurance Congress in Melbourne.
Mr Roberts will continue to sit on the national board as the immediate past president.
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