Four organisations connected to Australia’s insurance industry named new leaders, shifted staff into different roles, or promoted lawyers and support personnel in announcements dated June 30 to July 2, 2026.
Bruce Billson (pictured above) began work on July 1, 2026, as executive director of the Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA), the national body for the country’s automotive retail industry. Billson’s political career spanned two decades. He held the Victorian seat of Dunkley for seven terms between 1996 and 2016, during a period when the electorate’s economy included component makers and suppliers to vehicle manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors. His ministerial portfolios included small business – a Cabinet position he held from 2013 to 2015 that carried competition policy and consumer affairs responsibilities – along with veterans’ affairs and a parliamentary secretary post in foreign affairs and trade. Before joining the MTAA, Billson spent five years as the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO). The MTAA said the ombudsman’s office handled upward of 60,000 assistance requests in its first 10 years, covering dispute resolution, mental health support, and policy advocacy.
Peter Jones, who leads the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) and previously filled the MTAA executive director role on an interim basis, said Billson “genuinely understands the challenges and opportunities facing the thousands of small and family businesses that make up the backbone of the Australian motor trades.” Billson said he intends “to engage collaboratively across the industry – with our state and territory member associations, with government at all levels, and with the broader automotive ecosystem – to ensure MTAA continues to deliver real outcomes for the motor trades.”
Assessing services provider AAMC reshuffled its Land + Road team, which serves insurers in heavy motor accident management, assessing, customer engagement, and specialist services, in an announcement dated July 2, 2026.
Anthony Hall (pictured immediately above) steps up to heavy motor vehicle assessing manager, a position previously held by Ian Brown. Hall’s remit covers the company’s heavy vehicle assessing operations nationwide, including how services are delivered, how assessors perform, and whether work meets quality benchmarks and the requirements of both clients and AAMC. Training assessors and developing assessing standards also fall under his responsibilities.
Brown (pictured immediately above) moves into a national business development manager position for the division. His brief centres on client relationships: sitting between insurers, clients, and AAMC’s operational side, finding openings for additional services, and reviewing operational performance with internal teams when problems need fixing.
A third change brings Blair Jorgensen (pictured immediately above) across from AAMC’s general assessing operations to run the Land + Road bookings function as team leader. Day-to-day scheduling, workflow allocation, and quality assurance sit with him, and he is expected to work alongside Hall, Brown, and the assessing teams on process changes.
Sarah Wood (pictured immediately above) has left Gilchrist Connell to lead the employment practice of global law firm Clyde & Co in Australia, taking up a Sydney-based partnership announced June 30, 2026. A newly recruited team will work under her. Her practice takes in advisory and litigation work for insurers and corporate clients: executive employment questions, redundancy and restructuring, workplace investigations, regulatory compliance, enterprise bargaining, and people-related risk.
Clyde & Co pointed to a rising volume of workplace disputes as context for the hire. It cited Fair Work Commission figures showing applications exceeded 44,000 in the 2024-25 financial year – 24% above the five-year average – and said enforcement activity around employer conduct, together with new statutory duties on workplace sexual harassment and psychosocial risk, is pushing up litigation exposure and the frequency of insurance claims. Rebecca Kelly, the firm’s Australia managing partner, said: “Our clients are increasingly seeking proactive employment advice to manage rising workplace risk, alongside support on disputes when they arise.”
Wood said: “I am delighted to join a global firm with a significant offering across six continents and look forward to helping clients navigate the complex workplace regulatory environment marked by increased litigation exposure and enforcement activity.” Three other partners have joined the firm’s Sydney office in recent months: Yvonne Lam and Malcolm Wood in October 2025, and Jessica Thurtell in March 2026.
Wood’s former firm, insurance law specialist Gilchrist Connell, promoted 20 people across its legal and business services teams effective July 1, 2026. Four lawyers reached special counsel: Abbey Stockley in Brisbane, James Kyrios in Melbourne, and Nicole Batista and Olivia Boyages, both in Sydney. Five were promoted to senior associate: Debra Crossley in Perth, and Brooke Elder, Olivia Giacomelli, Oliver Ray, and Kimberley Yeung, all in Sydney. Eight became associates: Nathan Konstandopoulos and Jordan Hansen in Melbourne, Meghan Bell in Perth, Dana Costigan in Brisbane, and Jazmine Miles, Lachlan White, Orijana Zdanaviciute, and Danielle Kennell in Sydney.
On the business services side, Rachel Gerreyn was named talent acquisition manager in Melbourne, Annette Brink became business development advisor in Adelaide, and Tanya Ffrost took the e-billing lead role in Sydney. The round follows the firm’s elevation of six principals and the hiring of Leah Watt – moves it described as part of a mid-year growth cycle. Chief executive officer Belinda Cohen said: “This year’s promotion round reflects the depth of capability across both our legal and shared services teams. Each of these individuals has earned the confidence of those around them through their commitment, collaboration, and willingness to keep learning and growing.”
