Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Australia Has Banned 3 ‘Forever Chemicals’ – but Europe Wants to Ban all 14,000
Aug 25 2025 // Last month, Australia’s ban on the import, use and manufacture of three types of “forever chemical” came into effect. These chemicals – PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS – have long lifespans and resist breaking...
Google Agrees $36 Million Fine for Anti-Competitive Deals With Australia Telcos
Aug 18 2025 // Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the consumer watchdog found it had hurt competition by paying the country’s two largest telcos to pre-install its search...
Accenture to Buy Australian Cybersecurity Firm CyberCX for Reported $650 Million
Aug 15 2025 // Accenture said on Thursday it will buy Australian cybersecurity firm CyberCX in its largest-ever deal in the sector, with the Australian Financial Review valuing the transaction at more than A$1 billion ($650 million). A...
Australia Pension Fund Mercer Sued Over Customer Disclosures
Aug 14 2025 // Australia’s financial regulator is suing A$70 billion ($46 billion) pension fund Mercer Super, accusing it of failing to report multiple investigations into serious member services issues. In a Federal Court filing,...
Australia’s Privacy Regulator Sues Optus Over 2022 Data Breach
Aug 8 2025 // An Australian regulator has sued Optus, alleging the Singapore Telecommunications-owned carrier breached privacy laws during a 2022 cyber attack that compromised the personal data of millions of customers, both parties...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Australian Broker MACK Insurance Services
Aug 6 2025 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., the Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based broker, announced the acquisition of Australia-based MACK Insurance Services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. MACK Insurance Services is a...
Espionage, Including Theft of Intellectual Property, Cost Australia $12.5B in 2023-2024
Aug 1 2025 // Espionage cost Australia $12.5 billion in 2023-24, according to a study by ASIO and the Australian Institute of Criminology. The figure includes the direct costs of known espionage incidents, including state-sponsored...
Business Moves: Howden Japan Acquires Holos; Ageas Buys Saga’s Underwriting Biz; BMS Purchases Australian Property Broker; UK’s Direct Line Now Owned by Aviva
Jul 2 2025 // Howden Japan Acquires Majority Stake in Retail Broker Holos Howden, the London-based insurance intermediary group, announced it has acquired a majority stake (68.3%) in Holos Holdings Co. Ltd., a leading retail insurance...
Australia’s Qantas Says 6 Million Customer Accounts Accessed in Cyber Hack
Jul 2 2025 // A cyber hacker broke into a database containing the personal information of millions of customers, Qantas said, in Australia’s biggest breach in years and a setback for an airline rebuilding trust after a...
Business Moves: Howden Acquires Chilean Retail Broker; United Risk Purchases Australian Facultative Reinsurance MGA, Pinnacle Underwriting
Jun 20 2025 // Howden Acquires Chilean Retail Insurance Broker Howden, the London-based insurance intermediary group, announced it has acquired Ureta & Fernandez Corredores de Seguros Limitada (U&F), an independent retail...
Australia’s East Coast Begins Flood Cleanup as Waters Recede
May 26 2025 // Australia has drafted in emergency service teams from across the nation to help with clean-up operations after devastating floods in the eastern state of New South Wales. Almost 200 additional personnel will take up...
Viewpoint: Regulatory Proposals in Australia, Malaysia Reshape Reinsurance Strategies
May 1 2025 // The regulatory landscape in the Asia-Pacific region is rapidly evolving, influencing insurers’ risk management and capital adequacy. Australia and Malaysia are two examples of markets where recent regulatory...
Clorox Australia Fined $5.2 Million Over False Claims of Using Recycled Plastic
Apr 15 2025 // Australia’s competition regulator said on Monday Clorox’s local unit had been fined A$8.25 million ($5.19 million) by the Federal Court over falsely claiming its GLAD kitchen and garbage bags were partially...
Business Moves: Dutch Broker HW International Completes MBO; Jewelers Mutual Buys Australia’s Q Report; Ardonagh Advisory Buys UK Broker ALP Holdings
Apr 7 2025 // Dutch Broker HW International Completes Management Buyout HW International BV (HWI BV), the privately held, Dutch insurance broker, has completed a management buyout with the backing of OBL Investments BV, a privately held...
Hackers Target Australia’s Largest Pension Funds in Coordinated Attacks
Apr 4 2025 // Hackers targeting Australia’s major pension funds in a series of coordinated attacks have stolen savings from some members at the biggest fund, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, and compromised more...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Brokers in UK and Australia
Apr 3 2025 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. this week announced two acquisitions – of the UK’s Bircroft Insurance Services and Australia’s Tresidder Insurance Brokers. Financial details of the transactions were not...
Australia Outback Lashed by Year’s Worth of Rain in Week, With Many Livestock Killed
Apr 1 2025 // Australia’s remote outback in western Queensland has been swamped by flooding after being lashed with a year’s worth of rainfall in a week, sweeping away tens of thousands of livestock. Up to 500 millimeters...
MS Amlin Opens Australia Branch, Taps Aon Re Exec as Head of Australia, New Zealand
Mar 31 2025 // MS Amlin, the Lloyd’s global re/insurer, announced the opening of an Australian branch office in Sydney, subject to Lloyd’s approval. Leading the branch office is Matt Botfield who has been named head of...
Australian Pension Fund Fined A$10.5 Million for Greenwashing
Mar 18 2025 // Australian pension fund Active Super has been fined A$10.5 million ($6.7 million) for making a number of misrepresentations about its environmental, social and governance credentials amid a regulator push to stamp out...
Cyclone Alfred to Cost Australia’s Budget A$1.2B, Hit Growth and Increase Inflation
Mar 17 2025 // Cyclone Alfred will cost Australia’s March 25 budget at least A$1.2 billion [US$759 million], hit growth and put pressure on inflation, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says. In a Tuesday speech previewing the budget, Chalmers...
