Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
In Past Decade, World Experienced Unprecedented Climate Extremes: WMO
Jul 3 2013 // The world suffered unprecedented climate extremes in the decade to 2010, from heatwaves in Europe and droughts in Australia to floods in Pakistan, against a backdrop of global warming, a United Nations report said on...
Australian Insurance Broker Network Plans Nation’s Biggest IPO Since 2010
Jul 1 2013 // Steadfast Group Ltd., Australia’s largest network of insurance brokers, plans to raise as much as A$562.8 million ($515 million) in the country’s biggest initial public offering since 2010. The Sydney-based...
Australian Safety Regulator Faults Rolls-Royce over Qantas Engine Explosion
Jun 27 2013 // Rolls-Royce Plc repeatedly failed to identify a defect that caused one of its engines to explode on a Qantas Airways Ltd aircraft carrying more than 400 people over Indonesia three years ago, an Australian safety regulator...
S&P Applies Revised Insurance Criteria to 22 Reinsurers and Subs
May 24 2013 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has reviewed its ratings on 22 large global reinsurance groups by applying its new ratings criteria for insurers, which were published on May 7, 2013. (See...
Supreme Court Asked to Decide If Human Genes Are Patentable
Apr 15 2013 // Soon after learning that his son had autism, Hollywood producer Jon Shestack (“Air Force One”) tried to get researchers investigating the genetic causes of the disorder to pool their DNA samples, the better to...
Willis Re Makes Management Changes in Australian Operation
Mar 26 2013 // Willis Group Holdings, the global risk advisor and insurance broker, has announced important changes to the leadership team at Willis Re Australia Limited, effective April 1, 2013. Current CEO Michael Harden will become...
Gen Re Names Flitcroft Marketing Manager for P/C Treaty in Australia, NZ
Mar 26 2013 // Gen Re announced the appointment of Andrew Flitcroft as Marketing Manager for the Property/Casualty Treaty business in Australia and New Zealand, effective April 1, 2013. He is a Fellow of ANZIIF, and has been Gen...
AIR Update: Tropical Cyclone Rusty Makes Landfall in Western Australia
Feb 28 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reported that Tropical Cyclone Rusty came ashore with 1-minute sustained winds of 136 km/h [85 mph] and gusts to 170 km/h [106 mph]. AIR described Rusty as a “severe tropical...
AIR Worldwide Analyzes Potential Impact of Tropical Cyclone Rusty
Feb 27 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide described Tropical Cyclone Rusty as having grown rapidly in intensity since its formation on Saturday. Although it is not expected to directly impact Port Hedland, Australia’s...
Australia’s Port Hedland Iron Shipping Port Spared Worst of Cyclone Rusty
Feb 27 2013 // A powerful cyclone that brought half the world’s seaborne-traded iron ore to a halt spared Australia’s Port Hedland shipping hub on Wednesday, making landfall about 120 km (75 miles) to the east. Cyclone Rusty,...
Australia’s QBE Profits Reduced by Higher Claims; Cuts Dividend
Feb 26 2013 // QBE Insurance, Australia’s biggest insurer, posted a lower-than-expected 8 percent rise in full-year net profit due to high claims for accidents and adverse U.S. weather, prompting it to slash its dividend and...
Australia’s Main Iron Ore Port Braces for Direct Tropical Cyclone Hit
Feb 26 2013 // A powerful tropical cyclone is on course for a “direct hit” on Australia’s Port Hedland, which handles a fifth of the world’s seaborne-traded iron ore, with evacuations starting on Tuesday ahead of...
Report Criticizes Insurance Tech Firm Ebix’s Financials; Firm Refutes Allegations
Feb 22 2013 // Ebix Inc., a major provider of software and e-commerce products for the insurance industry, saw its stock price fall more than 25 percent Thursday, Feb. 21, after a research report critical of Ebix’s financial...
Insurance Australia Group Posts US$ 840 Million Half Year Insurance Profit
Feb 22 2013 // Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) announced an insurance profit of A$815 million [US$840 million] for the half-year ended 31 December 2012, compared to A$276 million [US$284.6 million], for the first half of 2012....
IAG Updates Loss Estimates from Australia’s Floods and Fires
Feb 11 2013 // Insurance Australia Group’s Australia Direct and CGU businesses announced that they have “so far received over 13,700 claims arising from ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald, with the cost to the Group expected to be in...
Lockton Expands Australia Operation with Melbourne Broker Acquisition
Feb 8 2013 // Lockton announced that it has expanded its operations on Australia’s East Coast with the acquisition of niche insurance brokerage firm Strategic Insurance & Risk Solutions, owned by insurance industry leader...
Australia, Indonesia Floods Highlight Aon Benfield’s January Cat Report
Feb 8 2013 // In its latest monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, focuses on the torrential monsoonal rains, which caused severe flooding...
AIR Analyzes Australian Floods
Jan 30 2013 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, the flooding that has hit parts of eastern Australia has forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. AIR explained that the “heavy precipitation over the...
Massive Floods Hit Queensland, New So. Wales; 4 Dead, Thousands Evacuated
Jan 29 2013 // Massive summer floods killed four people and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes across two Australian states on Tuesday, disrupting air and rail travel and coal production. A deluge fed by ex-tropical...
Australian Court Rules Workers’ Comp Covers Sex Mishap
Dec 20 2012 // An Australian court has ruled that a bureaucrat who was injured while having sex on a business trip is eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. The Full Bench of the Federal Court ruled Dec. 13 in favor of the...
