The NSW and Queensland spring bushfires caught everyone by surprise, and now the states – and insurers – are bracing for a summer like no other Australia has ever experienced. In the December/January edition of Insurance News magazine our editorial team talks to victims, firefighters and scientists to understand the causes and the consequences as we prepare for a fiery summer.

The magazine also examines the insurance industry’s performance over the past 12 months and probes the reasons behind a slowdown, falling profitability and continuing premium rises.

Our popular informal look at the Top 20 influencers and influences on Australia insurance continues for the 10th year, we talk to industry leaders across the wide world of insurance, and we provide background to issues like how a reinsurance pool for northern Australia was resurrected and how codes of practice will survive the chilly winds of regulatory change.

Australia’s most popular insurance print publication is being mailed out to subscribers this week, with the online version set to go online shortly after.