Could you tell us a bit about your significant successes in your role?

Leading the QBE efforts in responding to and advocating on the ambit of legislative changes post the Royal Commission into financial services. This includes working with the Insurance Council of Australia as a key member on submissions to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Treasury.

Leading QBE’s interactions with regulators on the reinsurance pool which is aimed at lowering the cost of insurance in high catastrophe regions, like Northern Australia. Setting up working groups to advise on the Corporations Act, related process improvements and business improvements.

Advocating for and implementing the advancement of technology and process automation within our business. Training and mentoring team members, some of whom have progressed to obtain senior positions within the business.

Working on automating and setting up an insurance industry intermediary advertising guide and automating QBE’s advertising reviews to empower our business and increase efficiencies. Building our precedent database and setting up the building blocks to speed up negotiations.

In your opinion, what are the qualities and skills needed to form a strong legal team?

A willingness to listen to other voices in the room and creating an environment where team members are excited to come to work, feel valued and challenged. Trust and empowerment are key ingredients. Team members need the best training and exposure and then need to be trusted to deliver.

As a leader, strong technical skills are the minimum requirement, that needs to be supplemented with people skills and a high emotional intelligence to understand what drives team members at an individual level.

Instilling individual pride drives team success, each team member viewing themselves as a brand and understanding that the legal team is also a brand which needs to pull in the same direction. Part of creating that brand involves presenting to the business as a unified, reliable and consistent legal team.

What is the biggest risk to your industry, and how are you contributing to prepare your organisation for this?

Extensive legislative and regulatory changes post the Royal Commission which makes it an uncertain but exciting time to be an insurance lawyer. Working with the business to engage with government and regulators to obtain reasonable outcomes which are beneficial to both insurers and customers.

What challenges have you overcome to get to the position you are in today?

I grew up in South Africa during a challenging time, immediately post the Apartheid era which made it important to prove myself in a market my parents and people of colour would not ordinarily have had access to historically. Overcoming this inherent bias and enabling people to see my ability on merit was a strong barrier to overcome and made me find my spirit and courage.