Welcome to TAL News & Views
Industry -
Welcome to TAL News & Views
Celebrating our partners at the Chant West Awards
It says a lot about the calibre of our partners that so many were recognised at this year's Chant West Awards. Aware Super took home Super Fund of the Year and Pension Fund of the Year, along with wins for Member Services and Insurance. Australian Retirement Trust won Corporate Solutions Fund of the Year, Team Super won Specialist Fund of the Year, Brighter Super won Advice Services, and AMP was recognised across Digital Advice and its MyNorth products. Cbus, NGS Super, Rest and MLC MasterKey Business Super were also named finalists across multiple categories. Congratulations to all of them. It's well-earned recognition, and a reflection of the important work being done across the sector to support members.
Recognising TAL expertise across the industry
It's been a strong few weeks for recognition of our people. At the Women Empowering Wealth Awards, Amy McDonald, Head of Product and Pricing, was Highly Commended for Life Insurance Professional of the Year, with Alexis Denby, GM Consumer and Growth, and Ranmani Senaratne, Senior Manager, Tech Academy and Partnerships, named finalists across the Life Insurance Professional and Tech Innovator categories. At the ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Awards, Glenn Baird, our Head of Mental Health, was named winner of the David Mico Industry Award for his work reshaping how the industry approaches mental health, including the Mental Health Action Group he established to bring independent oversight and challenge to TAL's work. Congratulations to all of them.
Spotlight on retirement
Tomorrow at ASFA Spotlight on Retirement in Melbourne, TAL’s Shaun Bransdon will be sharing highlights from the second edition of our What I Wish I Knew About Retirement research into the lived experience of older Australians. Shaun will also be hosting a panel session with AustralianSuper’s Katherine Salih and AMP’s Ben Hillier on how super funds can design better retirement pathways for members.
Meet our team: Paul Wallis
This month we sat down with Paul Wallis, recently appointed General Manager of Group Partnerships, who leads our relationships with AustralianSuper, Rest and Cbus. Paul shares the career that brought him to TAL, the transformation work behind insourcing AustralianSuper’s claims, the digital claims, and Cover Assist programs, and what he’s learned about how partnerships work best.
AustralianSuper and TAL cut claim lodgement times by 80% after digital overhaul
One year on from launching a digital claims experience for AustralianSuper members, around 35% of disability claims across IP, TPD and Terminal Illness are now initiated online. Members are lodging sooner after a claimable event, with around 30% of digital claims submitted outside business hours, and TAL is receiving digital IP claims around 80% faster than paper-based claims.
New perspectives on Group TPD sustainability
At last month’s All Actuaries Summit, two sessions explored the future of Group TPD. The first examined the case for recalibrating a product model under pressure from rising mental health-related claims and definitions designed for a different era. The second looked at how workers compensation reform, including NSW changes commencing 1 July 2026, will flow through to insurance in super. We’ve pulled together the key messages from both.
Why one in four IP rehabilitation referrals involve exercise physiology
In 2025, one in four rehabilitation referrals across TAL’s group IP portfolio was for exercise physiology, making it one of our most referred services. This piece looks at why physical capacity so often declines during a claim, how structured, evidence-based programs help rebuild it, and why starting early can make other forms of rehabilitation more effective, with a member story that shows what that looks like in practice.