Meet The Team
Our philosophy is based on bringing years of insurance expertise to corporate, SME and commercial businesses. In an insurance market that is becoming increasingly commoditised, even at the corporate end, we often find that insurance programmes are not sufficiently tailored to meet the needs of organisations now and into the future. Or, they’re simply poorly constructed, exposing the client organisation to unexpected loss.
We have an outstanding team with a high degree of expertise, which collectively has over 85 years of industry experience at the pointy end of risk challenge, policy construction and placement.
As of 1 October 2024, Acacia Insurance & Risk Services has merged with and become part of Omnisure.
Omnisure, founded in 1982, is proudly family owned and operated, servicing customers across Australia and internationally. The Omnisure team is keenly customer focussed, having won multiple awards in recent years, including IBA Top brokers, Elite brokers and Fast brokers. Omnisure is also a member of one of Australia’s largest insurance broking networks.
Acacia’s directors and other members of the team have joined Omnisure and it is business as usual for our clients. Our team (and new colleagues at Omnisure) will continue to provide clients with the high level of service to which they’ve become accustomed over the years and we’re excited about providing even better service as part of an expanded team.
Find out more about our key team members below.
Martin van Rhoon
Director
Dip. Financial Services Broking
Martin has over 25 years of experience dealing with complex risks for some of the world’s major corporations, middle market and SME businesses, delivering outstanding results for his clients making tangible and effective differences to their businesses.
He leads an exceptionally talented team, with the capability, capacity and clear focus on providing superior results, even for the toughest and most challenging of risks in the toughest and challenging insurance market environments.
Martin has a proven track record in client service excellence through partnering with organisations to help them get to where they need to be:
Some of the clients Martin has advised are:
- ORIX Australia
- Jones Lang LaSalle
- Hospitality Scheme – Hotels
- Bridgestone/Firestone
- Deutsche Bank
- Amatek – comprising Laminex Industries, ACI Fibreglass, Rocla Concrete, Quarries, Pipelines, Pavers and Masonry, Insulation Solutions, Stramit Metal Industries
- Waco Kwikform
- Ausco Modular
- CVC Limited
- NGP/WFM – Nick Politis Motor Dealer Group, Australia, UK, Europe
- The Good Guys
Mark Williams
Director
Mark joined Acacia Insurance after a stellar career as one of Australia’s leading insurance lawyers.
Mark joined the award-winning law firm Lander & Rogers in 2002 to start up the insurance practice in Sydney. For many years, as partner, he was responsible for leading and developing the Sydney insurance practice, now widely acknowledged for its expertise in the insurance industry.
Whilst at Landers, Mark specialised in professional indemnity, directors and officers and general liability.
In addition to handling many claims of various descriptions and complexities on behalf of both insureds and insurers alike, he has also played leading roles on many of Australia’s major claims, including:
- ASIC investigations following the collapse of major companies like Allco and Hastie
- Multimillion-dollar claims involving the collapse of companies like Great Southern
- Claims against directors following corporate failures, including the Adsteam litigation in the 1990s.
Mark has also been engaged by global corporations to advise on policy construction and interpretation.
Mark brings outstanding industry experience to Acacia and enhances our ability to provide clients with the very best broking and risk management services.
Robert Wallace
Head of Workers Compensation Services
Rob has worked in the workers compensation industry for 30 plus years and has extensive experience in all areas of workers compensation including premium minimisation. During his career, Rob has held a number of senior positions with multi-national insurance companies and advisory firms, including Workers Compensation Principal, National Claims Manager and NSW Claims Manager.
Rob’s areas of expertise include strategic and operational management, change management, business improvement, leakage reduction and technical expertise in claims and injury management. He has implemented strategic and operational plans focused on service delivery and strategies to improve return to work rates, control expenses and the reduction of associated claims liability and premiums.
Rob has partnered with numerous clients to effectively manage their workers compensation program, a few examples include:
- ARA Group
- Insurance Australia Group (IAG)
- Hanson Australia
- Microsoft
- Google Australia
- Herbert Smith Freehills
- Koppers Australia
- Bergin’s Logging
- The Co-Group
David Royle
Head of Technical
Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, UK
The relevance of a person’s expertise is what they bring to the table for those who engage them – the key ingredient that positively alters the course of events and delivers better outcomes.
Few in the market place possess David’s breadth of experience and technical expertise over his 40+ years in the business. This allows us to negotiate with insurers from a position of strength and knowledge and helps ensure we secure the appropriate and correct coverage for your exposures.
David has extensive experience as a principal broker for some of the world’s largest corporations and on most challenging risks, as seen and exampled below. But, in addition, there is his high degree of technical expertise in constructing policy wordings and coverage.
David has authored energy and mining wordings for the world’s top brokers and conducted extensive comparisons for insurer specific wordings against industry standards.
Some of the clients David has advised:
- AGL Limited
- Boral Limited
- James Hardie Industries Ltd
- Port Kembla Coal Terminal
- RTZ/CRA Mining Group
- Shell Coal Group
- State Transit Authority
- Wattyl Paints
- Nabalco Nhulunbuy Bauxite Mine
- Renison Goldfields
- Moomba/Sydney Pipeline Authority
In addition, David has served as Global Group Insurance Manager for Amatek Industries, a construction material manufacturer conglomerate with a revenue of $1.5 billion and domestic presence in Australia, New Zealand, central and southern USA, Indonesia, India and Singapore.
“I want to thank you for work you did to organise the best possible insurance coverage for our businesses. We were very impressed by your thoroughness and ability to explain in layman’s terms what everything meant! Having one point of contact was a real plus for us, being time poor we did not want to be explaining our needs to multiple people, multiple times. You took the stress right out of the situation and made the right insurances achievable. Martin thank you for a personalised professional service, we highly recommend Acacia Insurance & Risk Services to anyone looking for the best coverage, at the best price, with genuine service.”
Rebecca Murphy | Account Manager
CS Mechanical