Research & analysis

Data-driven insight for the complex challenges of today and tomorrow.

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Latest research and analysis from the Institute

Explore insights, stories and technical analysis from actuaries working across a range of issues.

All articles

Doctor and surgeon with nurse, walking in hospital hallway

1 CPD Point

Product Cycling in Private Health Insurance: Understanding Market Dynamics and Policy Implications

Rising Gold hospital premiums drive product cycling in Australia’s health insurance. This article examines impacts on affordability, risk and consumer choice.

Gold Product Workstream Working Group

10 September 2025

1 CPD Point

Getting Your Voice Heard: Trusty Tactics for Young Actuaries

Learn proven tactics to amplify your voice in meetings and advance your actuarial career with confidence.

Alexander Fioretto

4 September 2025

Close-up of a smartphone screen capturing the sights of Tsutenkaku in Osaka

1 CPD Point

Asia Pacific Perspectives: Beyond the Bullet Train - Japan's High-Speed Insurance Transformation

From actuarial beginnings in Sydney to leading digital innovation in global insurtech, Louis Lee shares reflections on Japan’s dynamic insurance industry.

Louis Lee

4 September 2025

The Cocora Valley near Salento in Colombia with giants palms trees

1 CPD Point

The Tome of Secrets: A Critical Line Puzzle

The Critical Line puzzle returns with a colourful challenge — solve the grid for your chance to win!

James Lindesay

2 September 2025

A photo that author Stephen Goh took of the London Bridge in London.

1 CPD Point

Sydney to London as an Australian Actuary: Top Tips and Advice from My Recent Move

Stephen Goh shares essential insights on Australian actuaries relocating to London's insurance market.

Stephen Goh

31 August 2025

Two professional women look at tablet computer in an office

1 CPD Point

An Australian Perspective on ASTIN’s Global IFRS 17 Actuarial Best Practice Survey

Australian representatives in the Actuarial Studies In Non-Life insurance (ASTIN) Working Party provide their perspective on the results of a global survey on actuarial best practices for IFRS 17.

Timothy Lee, Francis Beens

28 August 2025

A photo of 2025 Actuary of the Year Iris Lun in a office with her arms crossed

1 CPD Point

Championing Transparency: 2025 Actuary of the Year, Iris Lun

Honouring Iris Lun’s impact in financial services, combining technical excellence with ethical leadership.

Actuaries Institute

27 August 2025

Senior couple talking about home finances and using the laptop at home.

1 CPD Point

Reimagining Retirement: How Targeted Prompts Can Improve Member Outcomes

Learn how gentle nudges help members navigate retirement complexity.

Jaye Muk, Jessica Zhao

24 August 2025

1 CPD Point

Check Your AI: A Framework For its Use in Actuarial Practice

As AI becomes more integral to decision-making, how can actuaries ensure they’re using it responsibly and avoid its pitfalls? Six ‘ethical checkpoints’ could help.

Dr Fei Huang

21 August 2025

1 CPD Point

Student Voices in Superannuation: Experiences from a PhD Candidate and an Actuarial Consultant

Read how actuaries Herman Lee and Twané Wessels used Superannuation and Retirement Applications to further build superannuation expertise.

Adam Barrow

19 August 2025

1 CPD Point

7 Ways You Can Master LinkedIn

You've spent years mastering complex models and risk calculations. But is your expertise visible to the people who matter most?

Actuaries Institute

17 August 2025

Melbourne, Australia, in early morning light. Yarra River, towards Flinders Street Station.

1 CPD Point

The OzEdge: A Brief Excursion into GeneraI Insurance History

Greg Taylor reviews Geoff Atkins' article, offering his perspective on the early developments and breakthroughs in Australian insurance reserving.

Greg Taylor

14 August 2025

Mature businesswoman looking out of window.

1 CPD Point

Evaluating ASFA's Lump Sums for Retirement Planning

Explore why ASFA retirement standards differ from super fund forecasts.

Richard Starkey, Ruvinda Nanayakkara

13 August 2025

A photo of the 2025 Hackathon participants.

1 CPD Point

2025 Hackathon Showcase: Transforming Data into Social Impact

Discover how 40 young actuaries partnered with Australian charities to create data solutions driving real social impact beyond traditional insurance.

Actuaries Institute

12 August 2025

Kresh Wright's presenting at the inaugural Women Actuaries Connect+ event.

1 CPD Point

Women's Actuaries Connect+: From "Who You Know" to "Who Knows You"

Key networking strategies from inaugural Women Actuaries Connect+ event featuring Kresh Wright's approach to authentic professional relationship building.

Actuaries Institute

10 August 2025

Young family with cute little baby boy going over finances at home.

1 CPD Point

The (Pricing) Games We Play

In this Normal Deviance Column, Hugh Miller looks at how companies can use pricing tactics as a revenue tool – sometimes at consumer expense.

Hugh Miller

8 August 2025

Reinsurance Explained: A Pillar of Strength for General Insurancers

A Dialogue Paper providing a comprehensive outline of reinsurance, the insurance bought by insurers to protect against major losses.

Read the Paper

An overview of a cyclone forming off the coast of Australia

Thought leadership and public policy

More thought leadership

Dialogue Paper

2 CPD Points

Reinsurance Explained: A Pillar of Strength for General Insurers

Explore how reinsurance supports affordability and resilience in Australia’s insurance market amid rising natural disaster costs and climate change.

Kate Bible

1 September 2025

Public Policy Position Statement

1 CPD Point

Group Insurance in Superannuation Public Policy Statement

This Statement highlights key public policy positions of the Institute on group insurance in superannuation, promoting stronger governance, simpler products and fairer outcomes for Australians.

Actuaries Institute

27 August 2025

Papers

2 CPD Points

Life Insurance Sustainability Guide

A framework for managing life insurance products for the long-term alignment of all system participants.

Life Insurance Practice Committee

20 August 2025

Report

3 CPD Points

Superannuation Tax Reform

In Superannuation Tax Reform: Sensible Changes for a Fairer System, actuaries Richard Dunn, Michael Rice, Jennifer Shaw and Alun Stevens set out their vision for meaningful tax reform that aims to make super simpler to invest, easier to spend and fairer with bequests.

Richard Dunn

9 December 2024

Dialogue Paper

2 CPD Points

Fairness in Insurance: A Challenge to Boards of Insurance Companies

Former APRA deputy chair, insurance company chairman and actuary Ian Laughlin challenges boards to strengthen their oversight of customer fairness by making regular checks on how the company’s product, pricing and claims philosophies, and other aspects critical to community views on customer fairness, are being put into practice.

Ian Laughlin

30 October 2024

Submission

1 CPD Point

Consultation - Ban on the Use of Adverse Genetic Testing Results in Life Insurance

The Institute supports the Government’s decision to ban adverse genetic test results in life insurance underwriting.

Actuaries Institute

12 March 2025

Submission

1 CPD Point

APRA Consultation - Targeted Adjustments to General Insurance Reinsurance Settings

Reinsurance is a critical element of risk management for general insurance. The Institute welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on reinsurance settings to assist in maintaining access for Australian insurers to global reinsurance arrangements and high-quality alternative protection markets.

Actuaries Institute

14 February 2025

Report

2 CPD Points

Home Insurance Affordability Update

This Report explores the context of all natural perils and discovered that the proportion of “affordability stressed” households – those that spend more than one month’s worth of their gross annual income on home insurance – rose from 10 to 12 per cent. These households spend on average 8.8 weeks of their income on home insurance, which is more than seven times what the average household spends.

Sharanjit Paddam

14 August 2023

Dialogue Paper

2 CPD Points

Cyber Protection Gap Widens for SMEs

Small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMEs) risk being left behind in the fight against costly cyberattacks unless they receive more help to bolster their defences. In Cyber Protection Gap Widens for SMEs, Win-Li Toh, Dr Michael Neary and Sarah Wood take a temperature check on cyber risk.

13 November 2024

Report

2 CPD Points

Getting to Grips With Indigenous Data

Getting to Grips With Indigenous Data highlights that, despite decades of focus on the rights and outcomes of First Nations people, limited progress has been made on Closing the Gap targets. The Report suggests that better progress could be made if changes were made to how data about First Nations people is collected, used, and controlled.

Hugh Miller

23 September 2024

Submission

1 CPD Point

Submission to SIRA Review into Home Building Compensation Scheme

Given the significant financial risk involved in home building, it is critical for societal resilience that Home Building Compensation schemes remain efficient and effective.

Actuaries Institute

27 November 2024

Submission

1 CPD Point

Response to Treasury - Review of AI and Australian Consumer Law

Responding to Treasury's review of AI and Australian Consumer Law, the Institute has drawn on recommendations made in prior extensive submissions to Government on AI including the need for regulation to be outcomes focused, prioritisation of existing regulation and guidance rather than new regulation and the creation of a centralised expert body to consider AI governance, regulation and guidance.

Actuaries Institute

13 November 2024

Publication

2 CPD Points

How COVID-19 has Affected Mortality in 2020 to 2023

The new Research Paper from the Mortality Working Group explores how COVID-19 affected mortality in Australia from 2020 to 2023 and how Australia’s experience compares with the rest of the world.

Mortality Working Group

28 July 2024

Dialogue Paper

2 CPD Points

More Than Just a Roof - Changing the Narrative on the Role of the Home

While more than 80% of people currently aged 65 to 74 live in their own home, many of these ‘asset rich cash poor’ retirees are living more frugally than they need to. In "More Than Just a Roof: Changing the Narrative on the Role of the Home", Andrew Boal argues that we should reconsider the role of the home as a fourth pillar of our retirement income system.

Andrew Boal

22 July 2024

Housing in Australia: Financial Journeys Through Affordability, Retirement and Climate Challenges

A paper presented to the joint conference hosted by ABS and RBA examining Australia's dual housing challenges and their impact.

Read now

Event insights

All presentations

Video

2 CPD Points

Applying Your Non-Business Skills in Your Business World

The purpose of the session is to highlight the theme of “lifelong learning” and to promote the application of skills and lessons from other fields in our business life. The session comprises a panel discussion with four actuaries who may have unexpected applications of skills learned in culture, sport, family or volunteering circles. The objective is to encourage members to volunteer and to remind them of the potential to bring their full range of talents to the workplace.

Martin Mulcare, Bianka Grange, James McAtamney, Crystal Mai

4 September 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Data Meet Up

The Sydney AI and Data Science Meetup featured a presentation by Chris, an actuarial recruiter at SKL Technology, who shared insights on the job market and career opportunities in AI and data science, adapting his previous year's presentation to reflect recent changes. The discussion covered the evolving landscape of data science and AI roles, including job search strategies and the importance of self-reflection to align skills with suitable positions, while highlighting the diversity of tasks and backgrounds within the field. The conversation ended with insights on recruitment practices, employer strategies, and career opportunities for junior roles and fresh graduates, emphasizing the value of practical experience, networking, and ethical considerations in AI.

Chris Gray

2 September 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Insurance in Super: Public Policy Statement and Sub-committee update

This session will provide participants with the context behind and insight into the development of the new Public Policy Statement* on Group Insurance within Superannuation, which will be released ahead of this session. There will be opportunities for participants to affirm and challenge particular positions. With the objective of superannuation legislated and a new parliamentary term starting, actuaries and the profession at large are well positioned to contribute and shape the ongoing policy debate around potential upcoming reforms in this area.

Jeff Humphreys, Amy McDonald, Karen Lau

28 August 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Leading and Motivating Teams to Achieve Great Environmental Outcomes

Hear from leading specialists from RMIT, n0de and UniSuper about their experience in leading net zero initiatives, and how climate and sustainability factored into board decision making.

Steve Somogyi, Jodie Barns, Scott Ferraro and Rob Brimblecombe

12 August 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

LASSO Regularised GLMs Enhancements for Life Insurance Experience Analysis

The revision of Actuarial Qualification Pathways paved the way for a new generation of actuaries equipped with improved statistical techniques. At the same time, established methods remain at the heart of life insurance experience analyses. This session bridges these perspectives by exploring LASSO regularisation within generalised linear models (GLMs). Whether you are a recent graduate familiar with modern techniques or a seasoned professional with deep experience, this discussion will show you how LASSO-regularised GLMs can complement traditional approaches.

Tim Lam and Byron Wong

29 July 2025

Presentation slides

1 CPD Point

LASSO Regularised GLM Enhancements for Life Insurance Experience Analysis

Tim Lam

29 July 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Data Meet Up

This meeting focused on the role of mathematics in AI, particularly in building large language models, with discussions on tokenization, embeddings, attention mechanisms, and training methods. The speakers explored the capabilities and limitations of AI models, including their ability to handle various tasks and languages, as well as the challenges in implementing AI across different sectors. The conversation ended with considerations on the growing demand for AI and its potential overuse, emphasizing the importance of balancing AI implementation with customer needs and maintaining human oversight in areas like coding and data science.

Sachin Abeywardana

15 July 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Mortality Update 2020-2024: annual update on excess mortality

The meeting focused on analyzing mortality trends from 2020 to 2024, with presenters discussing COVID-19's impact on death rates and comparing it to other causes like cancer and flu. The presenters examined regional patterns of excess mortality across different countries and analyzed life expectancy data from the World Bank, highlighting how governments' responses to the pandemic affected outcomes. The discussion concluded with an evaluation of mortality trends across various countries, including Australia's performance compared to others, and considered the long-term impact of the pandemic on mortality rates.

Richard Lyon and Matt Ralph

10 July 2025

Presentation slides

1 CPD Point

Master LinkedIn: Strategic networking for actuaries slides

Haylee and Leona conducted an insight session on LinkedIn strategic networking for actuaries, covering profile optimization, engagement strategies, and content creation techniques. The session included discussions on building thought leadership, networking effectively, and leveraging LinkedIn's features to enhance professional visibility and career opportunities. The presenters shared practical advice on timing, keyword selection, and authentic content creation to help actuaries maximize their LinkedIn presence and connect with potential opportunities.

Haylee Kerans and Leona Spencer

1 July 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Master LinkedIn Strategic networking for actuaries

Haylee Kerans and Leona Spencer

1 July 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Women Actuaries Connect Event

The Women Actuaries Connect Plus event was launched to strengthen pathways for women actuaries and address professional barriers, with a focus on fostering connections and community building. The event featured a guest speaker who shared their career journey and emphasized the importance of networking, discussing how building meaningful relationships can lead to career advancement. The speaker addressed common fears and misconceptions about networking, providing practical strategies and tips for effective professional connections while highlighting the value of both in-person and virtual networking opportunities.

Kresh Wright

26 June 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Data Meet Up

The meeting covered various aspects of AI and data science in education and professional settings, including discussions on teaching methods, challenges with AI-generated content, and the use of AI tools in course development and feedback processes. Participants explored the integration of AI in workflows, the importance of human oversight in AI systems, and the concept of instinctive recognition of flawed models. The event concluded with announcements about job opportunities and consultancy services, as well as an invitation for networking.

Luana Woodward

24 June 2025

Presentation slides

1 CPD Point

Actuaries in Action; Superannuation & Investments

The meeting featured an insight session where four actuaries shared their career journeys in the financial and actuarial sectors, discussing their experiences in retirement solutions, consulting, and trading roles. The panelists explored the value of actuarial training in various professional settings, including consulting and direct employment, while addressing stereotypes about actuaries and emphasizing the importance of lifelong learning and professional development. The discussion concluded with conversations about actuaries' roles in improving retirement outcomes and their career development journeys, highlighting the significance of mentorship, effective communication, and aligning personal values with career choices.

Aidan Nguyen, Estelle Liu, Hendrie Koster, Shang Wu and Victor Huang

21 June 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

AI and Chill Improve your productivity Work Smarter, Not Harder

Colin discussed the capabilities, limitations, and best practices for using Large Language Models (LLMs) in various professional contexts, emphasizing the importance of human judgment and oversight. He demonstrated practical applications of AI across industries, including insurance, banking, and education, while highlighting strategies for improving prompts and outputs. The session concluded with insights on staying informed about AI developments and a call for feedback to enhance future discussions.

Colin Priest

22 May 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Actuaries in Action; Superannuation & Investments

Aidan Nguyen, Estelle Liu, Hendrie Koster, Shang Wu and Victor Huang

21 May 2025

Video

2 CPD Points

Data Meet Up

The Sydney AI and Data Science Meetup concluded its last meeting at the Institute of Actuaries, with the next meetup scheduled at Australia Square. The discussion focused on the evolution of coding, the potential pitfalls of using AI for predictive models, and the capabilities and potential of AI systems. The meeting also addressed the impact of AI on various professions, the improvements in AI's reasoning models, and the potential of AI in solving complex problems.

Eugene Dubossarsky

6 May 2025