Nominations have opened for the annual Insurance Business Awards. Any individual or company in the local insurance industry is eligible to submit a nomination, either on their own behalf or for someone else. The closing date is November 20.
Next year's event at the Fullerton Hotel Sydney is an opportunity to celebrate what the industry's firms are doing well – even as insurance challenges from rising premiums to natural catastrophes bear down, arguably more than ever before.
The evening involves a black-tie gala dinner, music and entertainment
There are 22 awards categories targeting the work of brokers, underwriters, insurers, business development managers (BDMs), authorised representatives (ARs), claims teams and insurtechs.
There are also accolades for young achievers, lifetime achievers, women of distinction, top CEOs and for excellence in diversity, equity and inclusion.
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With all the challenges and pressure in the daily work of insurance professionals, many industry stakeholders agree that recognition from industry peers can help reinforce and encourage good work.
For those who have taken the stage, the recognition works internally as much as externally - a signal to staff about the culture that produced the result.
“It’s amazing," said Letizia Fusina, EML Group's general manager, People. "I think it’s just a testament to the wonderful culture that we have at EML. It's a reflection of our purpose of helping people get their lives back and really important that we create a great place to work for our people so that they feel fulfilled and they’re able to fulfill that purpose.”
When relatively few people in the wider community fully understand what the diverse stakeholders in the insurance industry actually do, the awards are also an opportunity to showcase the surprising variety of specialisations across the industry.
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Past category winners have ranged from large national insurers through to small, highly specialised brokerages built around a single sector – evidence, organisers say, that scale is not the only measure of a strong operation. For smaller firms, the award often lands as validation of an approach rather than a scale of operation.
“I honestly am very surprised and honoured to win this award," said Lisa Carter, CEO of Clear Insurance who won CEO of the Year 2026. "I like to lead by example and do the right thing by our clients and I think what makes a successful brokerage is really putting our clients first and having some fun along the way.”
Before the big event in Sydney, the nominations are shortlisted by IB's awards team to compile a list of the best candidates in each category. These Excellence Awardees will be announced online on February 22.
The submissions from these Excellence Awardees are forwarded to an independent judging panel who score each submission according to set criteria. IB's judging panel consists of [NUMBER – TBC] senior industry professionals. These leaders represent insurance businesses, associations and peak bodies from across the industry.
Every effort is made to ensure their judgements are impartial, balanced and fair. Scores are aggregated to produce a single winner in each category. The winners will be announced on the big night on May 28.
Key Media would like to thank Event Partner AAMC, Gold Award Partner Grappler and all our other sponsors for their support of the 2027 awards.
