Insurance broker leaders join the homelessness fight
As Australia braces for a chilly winter, the call for insurance broking leaders to join the Vinnies CEO Sleepout has officially begun.
The Sleepout is a one-night event on one of the coldest nights of the year at the Timber Yard in Port Melbourne and will see CEOs across the country sleeping outdoors in an effort to raise funds for Australians experiencing homelessness.
Rob Viney, Branch Manager at Insurance House/PSB Insurance Brokers, is one of many leaders in the insurance broking industry are rallying up brokers and CEOs to support or join the cause.
Having worked in insurance broking for over 35 years, Rob believes that preventing homelessness is one of key pillars of the broking profession.
“In insurance, if you have your home insured, as an example and you have an incident, part of the insurance policy is alternate accommodation. The insurance industry doesn’t just let people go out on the street,” he says.
“We as an industry look after people, and work to ensure people keep a roof over their head. We respond to these emergencies and we go and find alternate accommodation, whether that’s emergency caravans or alternate accommodation similar to the existing, because housing is so critical.
“We know we can’t function without housing. My biggest take out from last year’s Sleepout experience was that you fall asleep on concrete when exhaustion takes over and you don’t get to just roll over and go back to sleep on concrete at 3 or 4am. You get up because that’s the only alternative. Lack of sleep then adds enormously to poor decision making. It’s a cycle and it’s a cycle we can help break. A good night’s sleep enables much better decision-making opportunities.”
Rob is taking part in his second Vinnies CEO Sleepout, after being inspired by Steadfast CEO Robert Kelly to participate in the Sleepout for the first time last year.
“Robert shared a really interesting, heart-warming story about his grandfather being homeless, and I thought this is really powerful stuff. Here is a CEO of an ASX 100-listed company whose grandfather was homeless – I thought it was an incredibly inspiring story, and just shows how you can pick yourself off the mat with a bit of help and guidance.
“Homelessness happens to a lot of people. Some end up this way through family violence. Some may come from an active working background and through the consequences of a poor decision or others poor decision close to them or just bad luck, they then fall into homelessness. There will also be a lot of people who have become homeless because of bushfires, or the recent floods, who have simply ended up this way because they weren’t insured, or couldn’t afford to be insured” says Rob.
Based on the 2016 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates over 116,000 homeless people in Australia, a 14% increase from the 2011 census. With recent floods causing significant damages to homes in Queensland and New South Wales, as well as rising inflation driving up the cost of living, this figure is only expected to increase.
Having raised over $15,000 last year, on his first attempt, Rob is eager to expand his contributions this year by leveraging his personal and professional networks to encourage people to get involved. He has already succeeded in signing up five CEOs and believes there is still much untapped potential, particularly among the insurance broking industry.
“Rob Kelly has brought me on, and I’ve in turn encouraged more people to join, so we’re leveraging more and more people in our networks to build awareness. It’s helped us grow support for the cause across our industry, but it’s also just enjoyable to get people in our different networks to meet throughout this process. That’s what broking is about.”
The Vinnies CEO Sleepout will be taking place on Thursday 23 June and is open to all CEOs, business owners, and community or government leaders.
To learn more about the event, sign up or to nominate a CEO, visit www.ceosleepout.org.au.
