The Insurance Commission of Western Australia (ICWA) has appointed four new commissioners to its board.

HBF WA MD Rob Bransby, barrister Yasmin Broughton, PricewaterhouseCoopers Senior Consultant Carol Dolan and former KPMG Australia partner Andrea Hall will take up their new roles on October 19.

WA Treasurer Mike Nahan says the four bring extensive experience in public and private sectors across the fields of insurance, actuarial analysis, finance and governance.

“These new appointments achieve gender balance on the board of the insurance commission, with an equal ratio of women and men,” he said.

Meanwhile, board appointment terms for Frank Cooper and John Scott have been extended.

Mr Cooper will continue as Chairman and Mr Scott will become Deputy Chairman, in addition to his role as Chairman of the audit and risk committee.

Outgoing board members are Ainslie van Onselen, Terry Agnew, Stephen Boyle and Christopher Kendall.

ICWA received about 19,000 insurance claims and paid about $700 million to injured people and Government agencies in the year to June 30, according to its recently released annual report.

This includes RiskCover, which manages the self-insurance arrangements of WA Government agencies.

The commission recorded net income of $188.06 million, significantly up from $51.47 million the previous year.

RiskCover added another $100.53 million net profit, up from $40.47 million the previous year.

CEO Rod Whithear says investment income rather than insurance operations drove the positive performance, with the compulsory third party division making an underwriting loss of $15.1 million.

He warns the current interest rate environment threatens future returns.

“We therefore must continue positioning our main insurance lines to be supported more strongly from premium revenue and improved operational efficiencies to reduce the reliance on these investment returns to break even or make a profit,” he said.

ICWA announced in April that it would sell major property assets valued at $800 million. They include three commercial office buildings in Perth and two major suburban shopping centres.

Mr Whitear said at the time the assets sale will allow the commission to diversify its property investment portfolio.