2019 has been a big year for both the industry and ALUCA. Tying in with Amanda’ s update, I wanted to provide a quick update on the key headlines from our strategy day. We want all members and stakeholders to be clear about who we are and what we do, which remains fundamentally unchanged. We remain a wholly and resolutely independent, not-for-profit member association, run by members for members. Education and professional development remains core to what we do and who we are, and we are happy to be working closely with the Life CEOs, other associations and ANZIIF to further evolve our CPLI program, the Life Insurance competency framework, for the good of our members and industry, and will continue to provide this open sourced to both. This is something we acted on when we saw the need for a competency framework back in 2016, long before the Royal Commission was mooted, and we will continue to hold people to the highest standards.
We’ve continued to grow year on year, and we have now almost reached 2000 members. As part of our ongoing good governance processes, we have been advised that we will need to transition to “a Not-For-Profit company limited by guarantee”. This will not change who ALUCA is, or what we do, but helps futureproof our association and simplify our governance requirements. More information and consultation with our members will be coming out before the end of the year.
We’ve been working hard to ensure the working party recommendations into the Hayne Report specific to Life Insurance underwriters, claims and rehabilitation professionals are understood and actioned. This has included updating the life insurance competency framework earlier this year. We are working closely with Executive Leaders to encourage more members to not only gain professional education but to also become ALUCA accredited CPLI members.
A key strategic focus is continuing to invest and evolve our competency framework that underpins ALUCA’s accredited Certified Professional Life Insurance membership which is continuing to grow as you will have read in Amanda’s update.
I encourage you all to become an accredited CPLI member and invest in your ongoing education. Personally, I am proud of my technical knowledge and learning of my own life insurance discipline. I’m proud of the hours I have spent securing formal qualifications, the hours I have spent at (many!) ALUCA seminars, and the new things I learn daily from my colleagues and peers across the industry. I am sure that each and every one of you is similarly proud of your own education, technical knowledge and capabilities. There has never been a better time for you as individuals, or us as an industry, to show we are proud of who we are and what we do, and to give our customers peace of mind that they are dealing with a true professional throughout all of their interactions with us
Before I sign off, I’m delighted to share the news about the 2019 winners from our two key gold education partnerships which you can read more about in this edition of ReB. Firstly, the prestigious ALUCA Turks Legal scholarship, which is now in its 13th year. The 2019 winners were announced at ALUCA’s NSW Professional Development Day. Congratulations to the winners and everyone who was involved and who applied you should all feel very proud of your achievements.
Thanks and congratulations to our other gold education sponsor MLC and to Monash for partnering with ALUCA once more to deliver the ALUCA MLC Monash scholarship award that recognises up and coming allied health student talent and the crucial role that they play in the life insurance industry. I had the pleasure of judging this and was impressed by the talent that shone through. Well done to the winners and all involved. Thanks again to both Turks Legal and MLC’s dedication and commitment to the ongoing education and professional development of both the industry and ALUCA members.
Best regards,
Jim Welsh
ALUCA Board Chair
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