Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Australia’s Westpac Bank Apologizes for Money Laundering, Links to Child Abuse Funds
Nov 22 2019 // Westpac Banking Corp.’s board stood behind its management team on Friday, offering embattled chief executive Brian Hartzer some respite from mounting criticism over allegations of a breach of money-laundering laws,...
Australia Court Rules Against Johnson & Johnson in Pelvic Mesh Class Action
Nov 21 2019 // More than 1,350 Australian women won a seven-year-old class action lawsuit on Thursday against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for misleading patients and surgeons about the risks of the pharmaceutical giant’s pelvic...
Sydney Shrouded in Smoke as Bushfires Continue to Spread in Eastern Australia
Nov 21 2019 // Sydney was shrouded by smoke for a second time this week on Thursday as bushfires continued to rage along Australia’s eastern seaboard. Early morning commuters in the city center were faced with an acrid haze that...
Judge to Decide J&J Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit in Australia
Nov 20 2019 // An Australian judge will rule this week whether Johnson & Johnson hid the risks of its vaginal-mesh products and damaged the organs of women, in the latest ruling in worldwide litigation against the U.S. company over...
Australia Warned to Expect More Fire Tornadoes
Nov 19 2019 // Fire tornadoes are set to become a more common feature of the Australian landscape as climate change takes hold later this century. That’s according to new research from the University of New South Wales’s...
Australia Wildfires Continue to Rage, Destroying Homes, Forcing Evacuations
Nov 14 2019 // Scores of wildfires continued to rage across vast tracts of Australia’s drought-stricken east coast on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes, some for the second time in a week. The most...
Venice Floods, Australia Wildfires Blamed on Climate Change
Nov 14 2019 // Extreme floods in Venice, fires in Australia and even an outbreak of plague in China have been attributed to climate change this week, while researchers have warned that global warming could saddle future generations with...
Fires Continue to Rage in Australia’s Most Populous State, New South Wales
Nov 13 2019 // Ferocious wildfires were burning at emergency-level intensity across Australia’s most populous state and into Sydney’s suburbs on Tuesday as authorities warned most people in their paths that there was no...
Insurance Council of Australia Declares Catastrophe for New South Wales Bushfires
Nov 12 2019 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) on Nov. 9 declared a catastrophe for the bushfires blazing in northern New South Wales. The catastrophe declaration is for communities on the mid-north coast affected by bushfires...
Australia Braces for Another Week of Devastating Bushfires
Nov 12 2019 // Australia is bracing for another week of devastating bushfires, with swaths of the eastern seaboard and even areas of greater Sydney facing a “catastrophic” threat that’s unprecedented at this time of...
Australia’s Pro-Coal Prime Minister Signals War on Climate Change Activists
Nov 1 2019 // Radical. Extreme. Anarchists: Scott Morrison’s choice of language Friday made it clear how he views some environmental protesters. Now the Australian prime minister is signaling he will legislate to stymie what he...
Australia Faces More Severe Cyclones, Wildfires, Floods as Climate Warms: IAG
Nov 1 2019 // Australia faces the prospect of more severe cyclones, wildfires and floods as the climate warms, the nation’s largest insurer said. A 3 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures will lead to higher intensity...
PCS Extends Catastrophe Loss Methodology to Australia, N. Zealand, SE Asia
Oct 30 2019 // Property Claims Services (PCS), a Verisk subsidiary, has extended the catastrophe loss aggregation methodology, previously developed for use in Japan, to cover more territories in the region. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, PCS...
BHSI Enters Australia Surety Market, Hiring Griffiths from Liberty Specialty to Lead Team
Oct 21 2019 // Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced it is entering the surety market in Australia and has named Jonathan Griffiths as head of Surety, Australia. BHSI will focus on providing contract surety solutions...
Australia Steps Up Biosecurity at Airports to Prevent Deadly African Swine Fever
Oct 15 2019 // Australia banned a traveler from visiting for three years after she failed to declare her suitcase was loaded with food, including products that risk introducing a pig-killing virus. The 44-year-old woman, who arrived at...
Eastern Australia Wildfires Destroy Up to 30 Homes
Oct 10 2019 // About 500 firefighters were battling out-of-control wildfires in eastern Australia that have destroyed up to 30 homes. More than 40 bushfires were burning across New South Wales state. Temperatures were cooler Wednesday...
Munich Re Syndicate Labuan Promotes Ng to General Manager and Principle Officer
Sep 27 2019 // James Ng has been promoted to general manager and principle officer for Munich Re Syndicate Labuan Ltd. (MRSLab). Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Ng will have overall responsibilities for the Labuan operations and its...
Property Loss Estimate for Australia’s Townsville Floods Rises to A$1.22B: PERILS
Aug 12 2019 // The property insurance market loss from the Australia’s Townsville floods, which affected northern Queensland, Australia, between Jan. 26 and Feb. 10, 2019, has risen to A$1.22 billion (US$827.1 million), according...
Greenlight Re Innovations Invests in Australia Property Claims Platform Handdii
Aug 9 2019 // Greenlight Re Innovations (GRI), a subsidiary of Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., announced it has made a strategic investment in Handdii Pty Ltd., a property insurance claims fulfillment platform. Melbourne, Australia-based...
CBA Joins Other Australian Companies with Aims to Cut Coal Exposure
Aug 8 2019 // Commonwealth Bank of Australia became the latest company to join a global push to reduce emissions and said it would phase out its exposure to thermal coal or power plants by 2030. The company announced a new environmental...
