From small business advocate to insurance insider - Alexandra Hordern's ICA mission

Having spent years championing the voices of small businesses struggling with operating challenges that included rising insurance premiums, Alexandra Hordern eventually made the leap into the industry itself - joining the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) to work on the issues from the inside.

Between 2019 and 2023, Hordern served as a vocal advocate for small and family enterprises at the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

“Costs were going up across the board and at the same time, there were well publicised issues with a few business' insurance lines,” she says. “I did a fair bit of work in the space, including with the ICA, and found insurance extremely interesting.”

Through this work, she crossed paths with Andrew Hall, who had recently taken the reins as CEO at the ICA. Speaking alongside him at various events, Hordern started to consider a future within the insurance sector.

Early lessons from the capital

Born and raised in Canberra - Australia’s “beautiful National Capital” - Hordern didn’t initially set out for a life in insurance. After high school, she took a couple of gap years working in small businesses before enrolling at the Australian National University to study law.

Though she earned her Juris Doctor, her passion pulled her away from the courtroom.

“By the time I finished my Juris Doctor, I realised I didn’t want to be a lawyer,” she shares. “But I could use the skills I’d developed over that degree to do other things, and policy advocacy sounded like a reasonable place to start.”

It was her time working in local Canberra businesses that left the deepest impression.

“I admired the grit and determination of the people who founded and ran those businesses. They targeted success in what were sometimes very challenging situations,” she recalls.

“That’s when my love of business started, understanding that sometimes no matter how hard business owners and operators work, barriers can take a toll – and that applies to businesses of all sizes.”

Finding an insurance niche

Her career has since taken her through federal politics and education, before she discovered her love of insurance advocacy. 

“I certainly would say that I’m a passionate advocate for whatever sector I’m working in,” she says. “Insurance is one of those industries people don’t often grow up dreaming of. More power to the people who do, and but  I’m one of the latter group of people who find themselves in the sector.”

At the ICA, Hordern's general insurance remit incorporates gaining further insight into member challenges, responding to regulatory change, and working to understand consumer perspectives.

“In some instances, a business or stakeholder group will come to the ICA with an emerging issue and ask for some help and support,” she explains.

“My role can include drafting or helping the team draft submissions to relevant government bodies, running projects, attending and speaking at Parliamentary Committee hearings, and of course, getting out and about a bit to explain what we do to other stakeholders.”

She also works closely with the ICA’s Consumer Advisory Committee, Business Advisory Committee as well as government stakeholders to stay on top of the fast-evolving insurance landscape.

Turning reform into reality

One of her current key priorities is collaborating with the sector to implement reforms stemming from the independent review of the General Insurance Code of Practice and the Parliamentary Inquiry into the 2022 floods.

“The inquiry was an absolutely crucial piece of work to drive industry alignment on some challenging topics,” she says. “Now the focus turns to implementation.”

This includes ongoing updates to the Code of Practice and related projects. “I think all of that will keep me and the team pretty busy over the coming months.”

Beyond insurance, Hordern aims to raise awareness about how regulatory systems shape every aspect of daily life.

“I joke with the team sometimes that I’m determined to ‘make financial regulatory policy sexy again’,” she laughs.

“While it might not be on the top of everyone’s reading list, regulation and regulatory policy governs pretty much everything we do in our lives.”

To illustrate the point, she offers the simple example of driving to the supermarket to buy a litre of milk.

“From the person who sold you your car, to your petrol provider, your compulsory third-party insurer, the supermarket, the farmer who produced the milk, and those who market and package it – regulation is essential to every part of the supply chain, but it also adds complexity and cost. That’s why getting the regulatory settings right is absolutely critical.”

Shaped by climate change

Asked about the biggest trend shaping the industry, Hordern doesn’t hesitate.

“We’ve all seen the footage that comes out of terrible natural disaster events such as floods and fires in Australia, and the deep impact these have on communities,” she says.

“Our thoughts are always with the communities affected, and the impacts on the insurance industry are also really important to understand.

"Insurers exist to price risk – we take in the premiums of the many to pay the claims of the few. But when the risk becomes more unpredictable, and larger, costs need to go up to ensure claims can be paid.”

Add inflation and rising rebuild costs to the mix, and the future becomes even more challenging.

“Getting a good handle on those large scale risks and investing in resilience and mitigation measures is absolutely critical to the future of the Australian insurance industry, but also the global industry,” Hordern says.

Setting the stage at the GI Breakfast

At the upcoming General Insurance Breakfast, Hordern plans to offer a window into the depth and direction of policy work underway at the ICA.

“I’m not big on spoilers but I’ll be talking about consumer-centric reform and what the sector is doing to ensure consumers are at the forefront of our thinking,” she says.

“I’m hoping people will take away a sense of the amount of work the sector is putting in to get this right, but also a sense of how interesting the work can be.”

And on the hotly anticipated debate over who really runs the show in the insurance ecosystem?

“I’m definitely not taking sides here – we love all of our ecosystem participants equally.”

Find out more about the 2025 General Insurance Breakfast