NSW state insurer icare has appointed Melanie Howard-McDonald as its new Customer Advocate.

icare says the role will be “central to improving the customer experience across all of the services icare and its partners provide”.

“Melanie will provide recommendations to management on enhancing the end-to-end experience along the entire customer journey,” the insurer said.

“This will be a key component of icare’s strategy to focus on customer outcomes across the organisation, ensuring that the people we serve are at the centre of decision-making.”

The role will be an “independent voice” within the Risk and Governance function, working closely with icare’s Customer Experience team and other senior leaders.

Ms Howard-McDonald was previously AMP Customer Advocate. Prior to that she held other senior roles at AMP Group, and was Deputy General Counsel and Head of Marketing Legal Team at Vodafone.

An icare spokesman confirmed that previous customer advocate Darrin Wright finished with the insurer in April this year.