Registrations for this year’s local Dive In sessions have already surpassed 3000 as the insurance industry’s diversity and inclusion festival gears up for this month’s hybrid global format.

Dive In will be held globally on September 21-23, the Lloyd’s-backed festival’s seventh consecutive year, and organisers say it is time for attendees to consciously help others be successful under the 2021 “active allyship” theme.

Last year it attracted a record 30,000-plus attendees from 35 countries – almost three times that of previous years. The 12 events in Australia and New Zealand in 2020 drew more than 2500 attendees, who between them filled more than 7500 “virtual seats” over three days.

One of 15 local events this year is a session Gallagher is hosting to close the Australia/New Zealand component of the festival.

Entitled “The critical role of LGBTQIA+ Allies”, that session takes place from 4pm on September 23 at Brisbane’s Fiume in the Crystalbrook Vincent Howard Smith Wharves precinct.

Panellists Sparke Helmore Partner Kiley Hodges, Cubiko CEO Chris Smeed and Queensland Investment Corporation HR Manager Philip Jackson will discuss the importance of allies and the role they play, sharing personal stories and experiences of active versus passive allyship, and how to move from being a passive ally to an active one.

Ms Hodges, a specialist insurance and construction lawyer with over 23 years’ experience, is a member of Sparke Helmore’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee and an Executive Sponsor of the firm’s LGBTQIA+ employee network, Sparkles.

Following are the local details for Dive In 2021:

September 21

• AIG NZ, Marsh NZ and Wotton & Kearney: How remote/hybrid working can help and/or harm organisational D&I, 8am (10am NZST) (Virtual)

• QBE: How cultural background impacts on LGBTIQ and people’s experience of work, 10am (Virtual)

• NIBA and Gilchrist Connell: Nurturing diverse talent and ending discrimination, 11am (9am AWST) (Virtual)

• Steadfast: Using allyship to create change with JJ Ferrari, 12pm (Virtual) • Lloyd’s and McInnes Wilson Lawyers: Harnessing inclusion: the next step, 4pm (Virtual)

September 22

• Aon: How does active allyship contribute to an inclusive workplace? 10am (Virtual)

• Liberty Specialty Markets and Wotton + Kearney: D&I – intention to action! An interview with business leaders on how they changed their culture, 11am (Virtual)

• Axa XL, Gallagher and Clyde & Co: Mental health in a post-pandemic world, 12pm (Sydney)

• Dual, Kennedy’s: The labels that divide us, 3pm (Virtual) • Zurich, Sparke Helmore: Showcasing allyship from unlikely places, 4pm (Virtual and in person)

• DLA Piper: Socio-Economic Diversity: How active allyship can help eliminate invisible barriers to career progression, 5.30pm (Invitation Only, Sydney)

September 23

• Chubb: Psychological safety journey (New Zealand), 6.30am (8.30am NZST) (Hybrid/ Auckland)

• AILA breakfast seminar: From #metoo to #wetoo in the law, 8am (ACST) (Virtual)

• AIG, Marsh, DXC: The AI influence: How will technology shape the future ally? 10.30am (Virtual)

• WTW and From the Heart: Be an ally for change: How you can help to create a positive impact for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 12pm (Virtual)

• Chubb: Psychological safety journey, 1pm, (Sydney) • DLA Piper NZ, Dual: How active allyship can overcome inclusion barriers, 2pm (4pm NZST) (Auckland)

• Gallagher, Sparke Helmore, NIBA: Active allies: Turning intention into action and hearing from leaders, 4pm (Brisbane)

See the latest event information and register here.