Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has formalised its customer advocacy arrangements, creating a customer advocate function that will report to the group’s executive leadership and board. The function is structured as a job-share role. Internal executives Jennifer Cobley (pictured left) and Georgia Whitbread (pictured right) have been appointed executive manager community impact and customer advocate, effective immediately, with responsibility for customer-related issues across IAG’s businesses.
According to IAG, the customer advocate operates as an independent voice within the organisation, maintaining regular engagement with customers and providing feedback and information to the chief executive and directors. IAG said the function is intended to provide “clear, transparent reporting” to senior decision-makers and to ensure customer impacts are considered in group-wide policies and individual case decisions.
The role will concentrate on identifying patterns across complaints, claims experiences, and customer feedback, and on translating those patterns into operational changes. IAG has indicated that insights from the customer advocate will be used to support changes in three areas:
The establishment of a formal customer advocacy role at a major general insurer comes at a time of heightened regulatory and community focus on complaints handling, claims processes, and the treatment of customers in hardship.
The move by IAG comes at a time when external dispute volumes across the financial services sector are increasing. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) reported 111,373 complaints in the 2025 calendar year, the highest annual total since it began operating and a 14% rise from 2024. Consumers and small business owners received $643 million in compensation and refunds through AFCA processes over the year, which the authority said represented a 120% increase on the previous year. The rise in complaint volumes was spread across banking and finance, general and life insurance, investments and financial advice, and superannuation. The data points to ongoing pressure on claims handling, product design, disclosure practices, and support for vulnerable and small business customers.
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Since it began operating, AFCA has received more than 634,000 complaints, resulting in $2.1 billion in compensation outcomes for consumers. The sustained level of disputes, combined with a new Banking Code and reforms across general and life insurance, is placing additional attention on financial firms’ complaints handling frameworks and customer remediation approaches. “This data highlights the sustained demand for our service, and with a new Banking Code now in force, and major reforms underway across general and life insurance, this is a pivotal moment for the financial services sector to lift standards and deliver more consistent, accessible, and customer-focused outcomes for their customers,” Chief ombudsman and chief executive officer David Locke said. IAG’s decision to formalise its customer advocate function sits within this broader environment. With AFCA activity at record levels and regulatory changes progressing, boards and executives may review internal mechanisms for identifying customer issues earlier, shaping product and claims strategies, and overseeing the treatment of vulnerable and at-risk customers.
