ARPC’s people make it what it is, enabling ARPC to deliver to its insurer customers. ARPC is committed to promoting diversity across all areas and is proud to support Australia’s indigenous traineeship program through Career Trackers. ARPC acknowledges the dedication and commitment of its 25 employees and thanks them for their continuing efforts. ARPC is a small organisation with an efficient and cost-effective organisational structure and has all the functions needed to fulfil its role. ANAO’s 2019 performance audit of ARPC concluded that ARPC has a suitable organisational structure in place to support the pool’s operations. ARPC employees manage core functions while specialist advice is sourced on areas such as specialist legal advice and the purchase of retrocession reinsurance. Back to top

Senior executive team

ARPC’s senior executive team is headed by the Chief Executive, who was appointed by the Corporation under the provisions of the TI Act.

BEc (Hons), PhD (Econ), AMP (INSEAD), ANZIIF Fellow, CIP, GAICD Chris Wallace is an insurance executive with experience in general insurance, workers compensation, health insurance, medical indemnity and reinsurance. He has worked extensively in insurance leadership roles within insurers and as a consultant to the insurance industry. Chris has leadership experience in most aspects of the insurance sector including small, specialised insurers and large insurers. Chris is also a non-executive director and Chair of MIPS Insurance Pty Ltd, a medical indemnity insurer. Through his role with ARPC, Chris is also a member of the OECD High Level Advisory Board for the Financial Management of Large-Scale Catastrophe Risks. Previous professional roles include being General Manager Workers Compensation at GIO, Executive Director at Ernst & Young, and General Manager Benefits Management at HCF. ARPC is a member of the International Forum for Terrorism Risk (Re) Insurance Pools, where Chris is also President. Chris has a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics, specialising in general insurance pricing and strategy. He is a fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, a Certified Insurance Professional, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

BEc MBA (Exec) CA ANZIIF (Fellow) CIP GAICD John Park is a Chartered Accountant and has over 25 years’ experience as a finance executive in the insurance and reinsurance industry. John joined ARPC in June 2016. John’s career includes previous roles as Finance Manager for General Re, Financial Controller for HCF, CFO for Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation, and Financial Controller for Munich Re Australia’s direct insurance business, having commenced his career as an auditor with Deloitte. John oversees the finance, investments, enterprise risk and crisis response teams. John holds a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University and an Executive MBA from AGSM at the University of New South Wales. He is also a Chartered Accountant, a Fellow and Certified Insurance Professional with ANZIIF and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

BE AMP (Wharton) ANZIIF (Fellow) CIP GAICD Michael Pennell has almost 30 years industry experience, having held reinsurance management roles with Swiss Re and General Re prior to his role at ARPC. He started his early career as a civil engineer. Michael assists insurers and brokers to understand the pool and is responsible for negotiating and implementing ARPC’s annual retrocession program. Michael also leads various projects that enable ARPC to develop and enhance its catastrophe modelling capabilities. Michael is the Chair of the Reinsurance Faculty Advisory Board of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance and teaches reinsurance at the Institute’s annual Reinsurance Study Course Seminar. Michael holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney, has completed the Advanced Management Program at University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School), is a Fellow and Certified Insurance Professional with ANZIIF, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Michael was awarded the Public Service Medal as part of the Australia Day 2017 Honours List for outstanding public service in the development of the terrorism insurance pool.

BA (Hons) Helen Williams commenced her role with ARPC in October 2019. She has extensive multidisciplinary experience in strategy, technology operations and defence. Helen joined ARPC from strategy consulting firm Strategy& (part of the PwC network), where she worked as a strategy consultant from 2014. Prior to her work at Strategy&, Helen had over 12 years technology operations leadership experience with Lucent Technologies, Alcatel and Nokia Siemens Networks. Helen’s career also includes service with the Australian Army as a Commissioned Officer. Helen brings deep experience in leadership, technology operations and stakeholder engagement to ARPC. Helen holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Adelaide.

BA (Hons), MBA Samantha Lawrence has more than 15 years’ experience in governance and Board secretary roles in the public sector, financial services and insurance industries. Prior to joining ARPC, Samantha was Chief of Staff at Insurance and Care NSW (icare). She was Executive Sponsor for diversity and inclusion and previously held the position of GM, Inclusion and Diversity. She was the Company Secretary at icare from inception until 2017. Samantha has Board secretary experience with a range of other related NSW Government organisations including the former WorkCover NSW’s Workers Compensation Insurance Fund (WCIF) and Safety, Return to Work and Support (SRWS). Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Archaeology and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. She has undertaken the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course. Back to top

Human resources

Human Resources (HR) provides people- related advice and support to ARPC leaders and employees. It develops and implements HR strategic plans and policies including:

• leadership
• payroll
• remuneration and benefits
• engagement and enablement
• performance planning and review
• organisational development
• learning and development, and
• safety and wellbeing.

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Workforce Composition

ARPC is comprised of 25 employees who contribute toward the achievement of strategic objectives through a blend of general professional and specialised skills and experience. The 25 employees are all based in Sydney and comprise 23 full-time roles, one part-time role and a part-time intern. As at 30 June 2021, there were two vacant positions. ARPC’s Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies are provided by the Treasury under the MoU. We strive to provide a workplace that demonstrates diversity and EEO through our recruitment processes and ongoing operational activities. We also provide flexible work-life balance opportunities such as working remotely and within extended hours. As at 30 June 2021, ARPC met the indigenous employment target of 3 per cent set by the Australian Government in response to the Forrest Review through recruitment of an indigenous intern through the Career Trackers program. The following figures display the workforce composition by organisational level (classification), gender, tenure, age, and cultural background as at 30 June 2021.

Number of permanent employees by organisational level (classification) and gender (as at 30 June 2021)

Included in the above figures is an indigenous-identified internship position. Back to top

Employee engagement

ARPC measures employee engagement annually, and in 2020-21 achieved an overall employee engagement score in the 63rd percentile (vs 60th percentile in 2019-20) within Gallup’s overall global database with an overall satisfaction score of 85 per cent (vs 84 per cent in 2019-20). This was the third year of utilising the Gallup survey to measure employee engagement. Following the survey, all employees participated in action planning sessions to discuss and agree initiatives to support enhanced engagement. Employees contribute to engagement actions throughout the year on the basis that engagement is a shared responsibility. Back to top

Key Management Personnel Remuneration

Remuneration for key management personnel ($) shows remuneration information for key management personnel in respect of the year to 30 June 2021. Key management personnel comprise Board members and senior executives. Senior executives (SES) receive company superannuation contributions of 9.5 per cent of base salary. SES employees received no wage increases in 2020-21 in line with the Australian Government’s direction on wage restraint. In accordance with Australian Public Service Commission guidance on performance bonuses published on 13 August 2021 (www.apsc.gov.au/circulars-guidance-and-advice/performance-bonus-guidance), ARPC is not paying any discretionary performance bonus payments for outstanding performance.

Remuneration for key management personnel ($)

^{* Effective 6 May 2019 Ms Payne was appointed to the full-time office of Inspector General of Taxation and her remuneration for the part-time office of ARPC Member ceased. Ms Payne’s term ended on 4 October 2020. ** Janice Nand took a voluntary redundancy on 1 January 2021. *** Samantha Lawrence commenced employment on 1 March 2021.} Back to top

Non-executive employees

The ARPC Enterprise Agreement 2019-22 (the agreement) which sets out the employment terms and conditions for non-executive employees, came into effect on 3 May 2019. In addition to base salary, non-executive employees receive company superannuation contributions at 15.4 per cent of base salary. The base salary classification framework for non-executive employees can be found on the website at www.arpc.gov.au/resources-2/ips/arpc-pay-and-grading-structure-2019-2022/. In accordance with Australian Public Service Commission Performance Bonus Guidance published on 13 August 2021 (www.apsc.gov.au/circulars-guidance-and-advice/performance-bonus-guidance), ARPC is not paying any discretionary performance bonus payments for outstanding performance.

Remuneration for other highly paid non-executive employees ($)

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A learning and development organisation

ARPC is committed to providing technical and professional development for all employees to expand their capability and knowledge through a blend of on-the-job learning, exposure and experience and formal learning. Development programs attended by employees during the year include:

• Internal ARPC policy awareness sessions
• PID Act training session
• Leader wellbeing and resilience session run by Ben Delta Consulting
• Introduction to Reinsurance Workshop
• Insurance Accounting for Insurance Professionals
• Reinsurance Study Course (Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF)
• Reinsurance Discussion Group Seminars and Events
• Governance Summit (Australian Institute of Company Directors)
• IFTRIP Conference
• St John’s first aid
• Australian Government Solicitor (AGS) Employment Law Forum
• Risk Frontiers – Risk Modelling and Management Reloaded webinar series
• Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) CFO Forum, and Audit Committee Chairs Forum
• Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit 2019
• Insurance discussions and conventions through the National Insurance Brokers’ Association (NIBA)

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Study assistance

ARPC offers a study assistance program for all ongoing employees. Employees undertaking studies which support ARPC’s core business may access study support including financial assistance and paid study days. Participation in the study assistance program during the year included the following courses:

• Certificate IV in General Insurance
• Bachelor of Mathematics (University of Technology Sydney), and
• Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing (Charles Sturt University)

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Safety and Wellbeing

Work, Health and Safety (WHS) incidents and identified hazards are provided weekly to the Senior Executive Team and regularly to the Board. No significant incidents were reported in 2020-21. ARPC appoints First Aid representatives and Emergency Wardens who are provided with formal training as required. ARPC undertakes the following activities to provide a safe physical working environment:

• Provision of a strong protective physical security environment including air locks, alarms, and access controls
• Ergonomic assessments and training
• Appropriate precautions for preventing slips, trips and falls
• Inspection and tagging of electronic devices
• Inspection and testing of fire mitigation systems and equipment
• Hazard awareness training and promotion of a safety conscious culture, and
• Annual office inspection by employee representatives

In addition, ARPC is committed to the wellbeing of staff through a range of initiatives including:

Wellbeing Committee

An employee-led Wellbeing Committee supported by HR coordinates a range of activities each quarter addressing physical and mental wellbeing, professional and personal development and community service. During the COVID-19 pandemic, with all employees working remotely at times, the Wellbeing Committee was very active promoting both physical and mental wellbeing. The Wellbeing Committee organised the following activities to keep the team engaged, connected, and healthy:

• ‘Sharing is caring’ posts – Microsoft Teams channel where team members post photos of what they have been doing as well as memes and items that colleagues may be interested in.
• Trivia
• Daily riddles
• ‘Feet unleashed’ – time to go for a walk – team members then post photos on the ‘Sharing is caring’ channel
• Fun ideas for weekly small group meetings – in addition to the weekly team meeting (hosted by the CEO), the team meets in smaller groups of 7 or so later in the week. The Wellbeing Committee has been designing team building activities for each group
• Wellbeing information communications (emails/Teams messages)
• Virtual team building activities
• Training for all employees to nurture their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing
• Training for leaders on how to support the wellbeing of their direct reports and teams
• Weekly meditation sessions

Employee assistance program

Confidential counselling and support services are available to all employees and immediate family members through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Lifestyle payment

Non-executive employees have access to an annual payment towards positive lifestyle expenses through the Enterprise Agreement 2019-22. The lifestyle payment has 100 percent participation and is used by employees participating in a range of fitness and wellbeing activities. Back to top

Resilience

During the year, ARPC has a strong focus on personal resilience which supports the strategic priority to “enhance and strengthen the resilience and preparedness of our people and organisation”. ARPC undertakes the following activities to support employees to fulfil their personal potential and to be able to effectively perform their role in the event of a declared terrorist incident:

• Providing and promoting the Employee Assistance Program
• Actively promoting and encouraging physical and mental health and wellbeing
• Conducting thorough DTI scenario tests at least twice a year, during 2020-21 ARPC conducted 4 exercises.
• Conducting all employee offsite sessions comprising:
  • Team building
  • Self-actualisation
  • Enhancement of soft skills such as self-awareness, emotional intelligence and communication.

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Promoting an ethical working environment

ARPC continues to promote ARPC’s Values and Code of Conduct. Back to top

Remote Working

ARPC has a Remote Working Procedure and an Extended Working Hours Procedure to provide employees with flexible working arrangements. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ARPC team has continued to work remotely where required, with no impact on productivity. ARPC’s Microsoft Azure cloud environment and tools such as Microsoft Teams fully support the team successfully working remotely. During the year ARPC did not experience any technical issues that negatively impacted on an efficient working environment. Back to top