IDSS 2025 program

Plenary program and speakers

Join us for a reflective celebration of IDSS's remarkable 37-year journey since 1988. This retrospective explores how injury and disability schemes have transformed, examining major reforms, evolving claims management practices, and emerging risks such as psychological injuries. Our speakers Geoff Atkins, Kim Birch (Advisory services) and Graeme Innes AM (Central Queensland University & NDIS board member) will share insights on scheme design challenges and outcomes, and reflect on predictions made decades ago. Through this historical lens, we'll understand how past experiences shape today's ecosystem and informs future direction.

Prepare for a lively, light-hearted debate that tackles important aspects of scheme design in a fun way, while still delivering serious underlying insights. Some of our brightest (and bravest!) scheme experts will argue for and against adopting a NZ-like scheme in Australia, taking positions they might not even hold themselves and opening an international can of worms in the process! This interactive session includes audience voting and engagement and may, through spirited debate, challenge conventional thinking and explore innovative approaches to scheme reimagining.

The injury and disability ecosystem is complex. It involves many different parties, including employers, treatment providers and health researchers, to work together to support the injured person or participant at the centre.

This session aims to give a voice to these parties. It explores how participant outcomes can be improved through enhanced coordination across the wider ecosystem and a more holistic participant experience. Michele Sterling (Centre of Research Excellence in Better Health Outcomes for Compensable Injury) and Matthew Ames (Non-executive Director) bring a unique mix of experiences to discuss innovations occurring in their space, current barriers and challenges, and potential solutions to better connect ecosystem components.

By painting a picture of the wider ecosystem, you'll have an opportunity to ponder and design scheme improvements in a more holistic manner. 

Explore how rapidly advancing AI and other emerging technologies are reshaping the future for insurance schemes, stakeholders and service providers. This forward-looking session examines technological opportunities, practical business applications, and critical governance considerations as we navigate this digital transformation. Dr Kate Conroy (Queensland Government), Brian Hartzer (Quantium Health), and Tim Johnson (Suncorp Group) will discuss current industry developments, identify key opportunities and risks, then engage in facilitated discussion about the considerations we all face. Understanding how technology connects within our ecosystem is crucial for advancing better outcomes while managing associated challenges.