EML Group has completed its acquisition of an 80% interest in Guild Insurance, a transaction the company said creates the only national workers compensation offering in Australia.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia retains a 20% stake under the arrangement, which was first announced in February.
Guild Insurance, established in 1963, is a specialist general and workers compensation insurer supporting more than 40 affinity groups across healthcare, community services, and other industries. Its workers compensation portfolio includes specialised NSW programs for pharmacies and early learning centres.
EML Group will now manage Guild’s workers compensation book. EML, which has more than 115 years of operational history and is 100% Australian-owned, partners with every major workers compensation regulator and insurer in Australia, according to the company.
Guild Insurance will continue operating as a standalone business under its existing management team, focused on general insurance delivered through affinity groups.
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Australia’s workers compensation system is split across 11 separate schemes, one per state and territory plus three Commonwealth schemes, each with its own legislation and regulator, according to the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICA) Workers Compensation Policy Paper published in May 2026.
The ICA paper found that publicly underwritten scheme premium rates rose 23.03% since 2021-22, compared with 0.94% for privately underwritten schemes. Victorian average premium rates rose 42% from 2022-23 to 2023-24 alone.
For employers operating across jurisdictions, the ICA paper noted that the lack of harmonisation leads to duplicated administrative processes and compliance costs, complicating workforce mobility, national safety programs, and the coordination of care and return-to-work.
Total workers compensation expenditure across Australia reached $15.96 billion in 2024-25, up from $10.84 billion in 2020-21, according to Safe Work Australia’s 2025 comparison report.
In NSW, where Guild holds specialised programs now managed by EML, icare confirmed an 8% average premium rate increase for 2025-26. The NSW scheme covers more than 338,000 employers and 3.5 million workers.
For brokers placing workers compensation across multiple states, complexity is a daily reality. Different jurisdictions have different benefit structures, common law access provisions, premium calculation methods, and return-to-work requirements.
A single provider claiming to offer national workers compensation coverage could simplify placement for brokers with clients in sectors where Guild has established relationships, particularly healthcare and community services.
Brokers should note, however, that EML’s description of the combined entity as the “only true national workers compensation offering” is the company’s own characterisation. The extent to which it changes product availability or claims handling in practice will depend on how integration proceeds across state-based schemes, each of which retains its own regulatory framework.
AM Best commented on Guild Insurance’s credit ratings in March 2026, noting the change to the insurer’s shareholding structure was expected to have a “neutral impact” on its credit fundamentals. Guild holds a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent).
EML Group executive chairman Cameron McCullagh said the acquisition was a milestone for the organisation. “By bringing together Guild Insurance’s established workers compensation portfolio and underwriting expertise with EML’s scale and specialist claims capability, we’re creating a stronger national offering for employers, industry groups and their people,” McCullagh said.
He added: “It’s a natural extension of what EML has been doing for more than a century, using the competitive advantage of the partnership between the mutual and the management company to help people get their lives back.”
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The partnership also opens the door to working with additional industry groups and exploring broader general insurance solutions for EML customers, the company said.
