Page 142 - Be Reasonable – Do It My Way , Peter E. Daly AM, My Story

CHAPTER 13 - NORWICH WINTERTHUR INSURANCE AUSTRALIA LTD
insurance industry and to make sure I asked questions and got involved in order to be noted.
At these conferences and particularly the Insurance Council of Australia Annual Meetings, no-one every asked any questions, so I made a special point of asking ticklish questions if for no other reason than to get known. I found by getting involved in industry affairs, I learned a lot about the industry and the individuals involved.
I also found that little or no product development had taken place in a long time. UK branches and the old tariff companies were dominant, especially in Victoria (New South Wales was more the home of the Australian companies) but change was on its way.
The advent of the Insurance Contracts Act in 1984 stood the whole industry on its head and required us to devote enormous time to developing new wordings and procedures, including renewal processes, new ratings and to ensuring compliance. Two years later along came the Insurance (Agents and Brokers) Act, which again caused great upheaval in the industry.
However, in both of these legislative changes I saw an opportunity. An opportunity to improve our products and our marketing and to develop new relationships.
Australia-wide the insurance industry was facing the progressive nationalisation by State Governments of the workers compensation insurance portfolios. Extraordinary as it may seem, I remember the Financial Services Union, (with Denis Nelthorpe in its ranks) marching in the streets in Melbourne protesting against the Labour government’s initiatives.
Efficiency...that’s the key
This was the heading of my message to staff in May 1985. I thought it interesting to reproduce it here as it gives a flavour of how we rose to the challenges I mentioned above.
142