“I congratulate Ms Fitzpatrick on her appointment as the first female Chair of the ARPC,” Mr Shorten said.
- Ms Fitzpatrick will be appointed as a part-time member of the ARPC up to 31 December 2012, at which time she will take on the role of the part-time Chair of the ARPC for a three-year period commencing 1 January 2013; and
- Ms Howes has also been appointed as a part-time member of the ARPC for a three-year period commencing 1 January 2013.
The ARPC is a statutory authority established by the Terrorism Insurance Act 2003 to administer Australia’s terrorism insurance scheme. In 2010-11, the ARPC achieved a gross written premium result of $112.555 million and strengthened its reserve for claims to $665.846 million by the end of the financial year. The ARPC’s investments are managed in a conservative Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 compliant framework. A key role for the Board is to ensure prudent management of these funds.
Current members of the ARPC are Ms Patricia Azarias, Ms Jan Bowe, Mr Tom Karp, Ms Marian Micalizzi, Mr James Murphy and Mr Joseph Gersh AM.
Mr Gersh is the current ARPC Chair, although his term as Chair is due to expire on 31 December 2012. Mr Gersh has been the Chair of the ARPC since its inception in 2003.
Minister Shorten has thanked Mr Gersh for his outstanding work as Chair of the ARPC over the years.
Additional information about the appointees is attached.
Mr Shorten’s Media Contact: Sam Casey 0421 697 660
Joan Fitzpatrick
Ms Fitzpatrick is a qualified barrister who has spent most of her working life managing commercial and manufacturing businesses and people. She first commenced working in the insurance industry in 1992 in London and subsequently worked for several years in the ASEAN countries. She became CEO of the Australian Insurance Institute (AII) in September 1997 and has worked successfully to position the Institute as the leading membership and education provider in insurance for the Asia Pacific Region. As CEO of the AII, she led all the Institutes in each state to Federal unification and merged with the Insurance Institute of New Zealand to create the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance in 2000.
Melinda Howes
Ms Howes is the CEO of the Actuaries Institute Australia. She is an actuary who has had a diverse career in financial services spanning policy, consulting, product, sales and strategic work in superannuation, wealth management and not for profit entities. Before joining the Institute, she was Director of Policy at ASFA - the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. She spent the previous four years with an actuarial consulting firm and also spent eleven years at Bankers Trust from the early 1990’s, culminating in a role as Director of Superannuation and Retirement Products.
