From its foundations in the NSW baking industry early last century, EML Group has expanded to 
become the largest specialist personal injury claims services provider in Australia, and it is on a growth path.

The organisation that started in 1910 as the Master Bakers’ Mutual Indemnity Association today reaches across the economy through state-based workers’ compensation schemes, industry self-insurance arrangements and related areas.

Group executive chairman Cameron McCullagh (pictured below) first noted EML and admired its culture while he was an auditor at KPMG. He thought the then small organisation was the client at which he would most like to work.

He joined the group as workers’ compensation schemes were transforming, and the role proved a revelation.

“I just loved it straight away,” Mr McCullagh tells Insurance News. “I lean into most things, but compared to the dryness of auditing or banking, there’s a higher purpose of personal injury – you can profoundly improve someone’s life.”

EML has marked its 115-year milestone with a refreshed branding, modernising its look while highlighting its mutual heritage. EML has operated as a unique partnership between a mutual and a management company since its inception.

The group now has about 3700 employees across 12 offices nationally, and it manages more than 90,000 claims a year. It is certified under the Great Place to Work program and was last year named among the top 50 best workplaces for women.

It received the “service provider to the insurance industry” accolade at the 2025 Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance awards and was named best claims service provider in another industry awards program.

Mr McCullagh, who has four decades’ experience in financial services, was group chief executive from 2001 to 2010, when premium under management rose from $30 million to more than $1 billion as EML expanded into new schemes and states.

His other roles have included helping New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation improve its performance and holding a key position at Steadfast Group as it prepared for its stock exchange listing.

EML now provides services for icare in NSW, WorkSafe Victoria and ReturnToWorkSA. It manages claims for businesses and agencies nationwide and for Catholic institutions through Trinity Insurance.

Mr McCullagh says other achievements include setting up and underwriting Hospitality Industry Insurance, which provides workers’ compensation for NSW clubs, pubs, cafes and restaurants. It started 17 years ago and has a 59% loss ratio.

Additionally, the group has expanded in claims services in accident and health, compulsory third party, superannuation and life insurance.

“Getting that diversity has been really great, not only in the sense of a risk-reward basis, but you can learn a lesson from one scheme and apply it to another, and know what to avoid,” Mr McCullagh says.

EML has invested in technology and artificial intelligence, and aims to make case management admin-free within three years, allowing staff to focus on areas where people skills are valued.

“For the right people, it’s more rewarding. It’s not going to take people’s jobs, it’s just going to take away the lower-level tasks,” Mr McCullagh says.

Challenges for the mutual have included upheaval in the NSW state-run scheme in 2018, where since-reversed changes and staffing restrictions put EML under pressure. The NSW scheme continues to face intense scrutiny after inquiries led to reforms.

“It’s the largest scheme in Australia, and it’s on the right path, but there’s still a lot of gain to be made,” Mr McCullagh says. “For a scheme to go well, a lot of things have got to be going well at the same time, and you can’t rely on one lever.”

Mr McCullagh says state schemes are all different, but each involves a balance between the interests of workers and employers within a social and political context.

For any scheme, requirements include remuneration based on the right outcomes, effective IT systems, sufficient resourcing, appropriate caseloads, and having qualified and experienced people.

In South Australia, successful reforms have included a shift to mobile case managers who visit workers and employers. Changes EML has made in its specialised operations include embedding doctors, psychologists and physios within teams, as well as its significant technology investments.

Mr McCullagh says a rise in psychological illness claims affecting personal injury schemes follows a societal shift away from individual responsibility, and can reflect financial incentives, but people remaining off work is a profoundly poor outcome for them, and Victorian and NSW legislative changes are positive.

“Systems that enable someone staying off work with a psychological injury are not socially responsible. It’s just not good for them long term.”

EML, through its Mutual Benefits Program, has reinvested more than $144 million over 10 years in lifting injury management standards in Australia, supporting training, prevention, mental health research and recovery pilots. Last year it invested $24.6 million – its highest annual amount.

Mr McCullagh says EML’s culture allows it to attract and keep people, and is a competitive advantage as it expands. In the near term that is likely to occur in complementary personal injury areas, while the group could look at privately underwritten workers’ compensation and other opportunities.

“Most of it will be organic, but some of it could be acquisition,” he says. “Our external purpose is helping people get their lives back, and our internal purpose is that we help our people develop personally and professionally, and growth provides more opportunities.”

Mr McCullagh says Australians often assume other countries lead the way in various arenas, but in personal injury the local market is competitive and at the forefront, sometimes to the surprise of newer entrants with shorter histories.

“We have a really good system. It has gone wrong sometimes when the wrong levers have been pulled, but it’s a system we should be proud of. We’re really world-class.”