Naomi Edwards appointed Actuaries Institute president

Former Spirit Super chair Naomi Edwards said her profession would play an increasingly important role as governments and the public grapple with the challenges posed by megatrends such as artificial intelligence and climate change.

"In the age of data, there is an important need to have people with maths in the economy, who can understand the trends and advise on and address matters of equity, public policy, ethics and long-term intergenerational concepts," she said, on her appointment as institute president

Commenting, the Actuaries Institute chief executive Elayne Grace noted that Edwards sat on the board of several listed ASX companies, industry super funds and not-for-profits.

"The energy, insights and advocacy skills provided by Naomi will be a fantastic addition to the Actuaries Institute this year," she said.

"Naomi's ability to articulate important objectives in an insightful way will be a huge benefit as we continue with important public policy work alongside governments, regulators and industry."

For her part, the new president pointed out that the capabilities of actuaries and other science and maths graduates have the potential to make a bigger impact in Canberra.

"The broader the educational background that we have sitting in our Parliament, the better the quality of decision-making will be," Edwards added.

"Australia stands out as being extremely dominated in our parliaments by Law/Arts backgrounds with a tiny representation from people from a maths/science or engineering background.

"Of the 227 federal politicians in the current parliament, only 14 have a science, maths, or engineering background, compared to the 44 politicians with law degrees."

Edwards argued that just as a good board would look for a broad mix of experiences and educational/skills backgrounds, it would strengthen government and ensure more representative policies if political parties had a broader mix of experience and backgrounds.

Edwards said the institute had established itself as a strong public policy partner, providing impartial advice to the government, financial regulators and Treasury.

"We are very heartened that some of the initiatives that the current government are talking about - such as bringing a wider well-being framework into the Federal budget - reflect the work that we have been doing."