M&M Insurance Podcast - Australian Insurance industry topics & issues affecting Brokers

Hosted by Ausure Insurance Brokers

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Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-AU

About the show

Calling all Insurance Brokers! Are you over Webinars? Over formal presentations? We certainly are! So we've decided to do something about it. We've started our very own podcast so we can dive deep into insurance industry topics and issues, affecting us all. Speakers: Mick O'Bree - General Manger of Operations, Ausure John Mills - Broking Manager, Ausure About Ausure - Ausure is one of Australia’s largest insurance groups, offering flexible solutions to brokerages nationally. Estimated 80,000 clients, $400m Gross Written Premium, with more than $10 billion of clients assets protected.

Listen to episodes

57 recent

October 9, 2026Episode 5843 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #58 – Hayley Morice & Cris White, Emergence

Hi all, in this episode we are fortunate to have the A Team from Emergence, Hayley Morice and Cris White. When the podcast talks about kinetic warfare, you know you're in for a good ride! We were lucky enough to hear Cris' journey from the navy through to insurance, and the similarities definitely got our attention. Another interesting part was a deep dive into how Cyber claims can run very similar to catastrophe claims, where "make-safe" repairs are completed with urgency, and a team of experts come in immediately after to work through the damage. There is a lot to take away with this podcast, especially around a product that is severely under utilised in Australia, but is a clear and present danger for us all. I hope you enjoy this one.

August 31, 2026Episode 5734 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #57 – Daniel Orrell - Steadfast Life

Hi all, we have a different type of podcast for Ausure today, as we welcome back Daniel Orrell, the Chief Distribution Officer for the evergrowing Steadfast Life. We are also very excited to announce Steadfast Life as a Training & Promotion Partner with Ausure, which will serve to help our brokers continue their ongoing training and advice to our clients. Thank you Daniel and Steadfast Life for your support to the Ausure network. In this episode, we deep dive into the significant success Steadfast Life has had with creating referral relationships across the Ausure network. These relationships have driven amazing results for our clients and our branches, and in fact Daniel gives us a couple of examples where Steadfast Life provided incredible savings and advice to our clients who needed it. We deep dive into the 3 key models of Steadfast Life, all of which are aimed to provide essential advice to our clients and our branches. I especially enjoyed the Key Person discussion, and the support it provides business owners. We also had a bit of trivia...which in a race of only 2 people, Millsy and I didn't even place... I hope you enjoy this one.

August 28, 202639 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #56 – Craig Barnden & Darren Free - Housekeeping with Ausure

Hi all, welcome to one our regular Housekeeping podcasts, this time with Craig Barnden (Head of Compliance) and Darren Free (Head of Claims Operations & Broker Services). For those who don't know Craig, he has been Ausure's long standing Compliance guru for at least 2 decades. Craig may say it feels significantly longer...And for Darren, he started as a broker a long time ago and decided to join the dark side of running Claims. He's done so well, he has a team of over 10 that helps manage claims for many offices in Ausure.On top of their main roles, Craig and Darren also help run major projects for Ausure, which sparked the idea of getting them together to provide hints and tips for our brokers.Spoiler alert, there is gold in this episode. We deep dive into key patterns they find across Compliance and Claims, along with their insight and recommendations to help brokers.We will definitely do more of these, as it's a quick summary of relevant issues from the viewpoint of 2 key departments within Ausure. We hope you enjoy this one.

August 5, 202636 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #55 – Melissa Starfield & Stephanie Martin - Zurich

Hi all, welcome to another special podcast! This week we were lucky enough to have Zurich's brainstrust on board, with Melissa Starfield (Head of Strategic Broker Management) & Stephanie Martin (Broker Development Associate). In this episode, Mel and Steph share how they came into the industry like everyone else, and managed to drive growth and success through many things, with relationships being key. We deep dived into the recently released Zurich AR Advance model, and what it means for us. We also spoke about the new buzz word "ingestion" a bit.Mel and Steph absolutely carried Millsy and I in this one, with their passion and enthusiasm for our industry and for Ausure. It very much reflects the strength of the relationship that Ausure has with Zurich. We hope you enjoy this one.

April 27, 2026Episode 5432 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #54 - Matthew Porteous, Director - Market Lane Insurance Group

Hi all, welcome to our belated first podcast of the year! This week we were lucky enough to have Matthew Porteous, Director and Group Head of Partnerships and Engagement with Market Lane Insurance Group. In this episode, Matty let's us know how what drives him, which is a great insight, given he's achieved so much in such a short time in the industry. Speaking of industry, Matty and the team at Market Lane seem to be bucking the trend for the average age in insurance. It's a great result and clearly Market Lane have a focus on talented youth Matty also deep dives into his take on the market, and how successful agencies choose to place themselves throughout the changing market cycles. And lastly, in a complete non-segue, Matty drops some wisdom bombs with the best description of quote slips I've heard. So much wisdom...so little political correctness. We loved it. I hope you enjoy this one.

December 15, 2025Episode 5333 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #53 - Daniel Gronert (CEO) & Ross McCallum (Head of Sales) – Arteva Funding

This week we were fortunate to have Daniel Gronert (CEO) & Ross McCallum (Head of Sales) from Arteva Funding drop by and share some pearly wisdom with us. In this episode, we got to know Daniel and Ross a bit better and understand how they achieved their success in the industry. We also deep dived into the importance of being vulnerable, no matter what your position is. And how that can drive more success for yourself and your team. Finally, we got some great insights from Daniel and Ross around how they marry up their work/life balance. It was really interesting to hear to be honest. I hope you enjoy this one.

December 1, 2025Episode 5228 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #52 – Steve Talbot & Julie Goswami, QBE

Hi all, this week we were lucky enough to have two stars from QBE, Steve Talbot (Head of Qnect, Distribution) and Julie Goswami (Head of SME Underwriting, Qnect). In this episode, we deep dived into what Steve and Julie are seeing in the market, from the perspective of one of the major insurers. We also got an insight into how Steve and Julie landed into insurance, and the differences between the two are vast! But it did highlight the diversity in quality people that land in our industry. Millsy and I had a great time picking the brains of Steve and Julie, while having a good laugh at the same time. I hope you enjoy this one.

November 17, 2025Episode 5135 min

Millsy & Mick Episode #51 - Damien Coates, CEO DUAL ANZ / Mental Health Ambassador

Hi all, this week we were fortunate enough to have Damien Coates, CEO of Dual ANZ, in for a chin wag. DC is one of the most charismatic people in the industry, and aside from his day hustle of leading DUAL, he leads the way in our industry as a Mental Health Ambassador. Surprisingly, this was DC’s first podcast, but you couldn’t tell it. We spoke about a wide variety of topics, from leading a successful company with a market leading team culture, to what DC is seeing in the industry. We deep dived into a lot more topics but you’re going to have to listen to get the full picture. That said, I hope you take away as much gold as Millsy and I did. I hope you enjoy this one.

October 24, 2025Episode 5029 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #50 - Marc Crossman - UAA/Mecon

Hi all, this week we had the Executive General Manager, Distribution Strategy for the UAA Group, Marc Crossman. In this episode, we hear about Marc’s journey to success, and how the Impostor Syndrome is real…and a good thing! We also deep dive into Marc’s approach for work/life balance, which is probably more important now than ever, given how busy our industry is…and our lives are! We did get a bit of FOMO hearing about Marc’s upcoming trip to Bali, but we pushed through it. 😊 We had a lot of fun with this one and we hope you enjoy it as well.

September 30, 2025Episode 4932 min

Millsy & Mick Podcast #49 - Kristy, Effie, Marcelle & Evangeline - Elantis Funding

Hi all, this week we were lucky enough to 4 stars from Elantis Funding join us for a chat. Those stars are Kristy Baunach, Effie Peal, Marcelle Morgan & Evangeline Tng. In this episode, we spoke about the different journey each person had in falling into our amazing industry. During this chat, it reminded us that our industry can keep getting better at attracting new talent, as the phrase “black hole” was a common theme. We also deep dived into in Elantis’ passion for Emerging Talent, which is a great approach to bring more and better people into insurance. We had a few deep belly laughs and played musical chairs a bit and had a ball throughout it all! We had a lot of fun with this one and we hope you enjoy it as well.