A digital evolution at the TAL Risk Academy

Head of Licensees and Partnerships Beau Riley

The TAL Risk Academy has always been dedicated to providing market-leading education that adapts to suit your needs and those of our changing industry. So when we launched the 2020 prospectus, it was with a particular focus on helping you meet the new education requirements and prepare for a new era of advice. As the year has progressed, we’ve found ourselves facing another new challenge. COVID-19 has seen not just advisers, but all Australians, look more and more to digital solutions. As always, the TAL Risk Academy is here to support you through the change. We’ve rapidly evolved the program so that it can continue to help you fulfil your CPD requirements and deliver outstanding advice to your clients, and make the most of the digital environment we’re all working in.  The practical training available at the TAL Risk Academy has always been shaped by your feedback and key trends, and we’re continuing to look to those to ensure we’re delivering the courses and digital learning solutions you need. Over the past few months, we’ve seen an uplift in course enrolments, evidence of how strongly you all feel about education as a way of strengthening and adapting your business to suit a changing world. Enrolments between January and April 2020 increased 41% compared to the same period in 2019. Some other key trends and developments include:

Introducing the new Virtual Classroom

A key aspect of the TAL Risk Academy’s digital evolution is the new Virtual Classroom. Here, you can access our masterclass series, previously only available face-to-face, including:

• Our popular FASEA Exam Masterclass,  with all sessions now being delivered digitally. Over 3,400 advisers have participated in this course since July 2019 and registrations continue to grow with virtual classroom sessions available through to July 2020. In its digital format, the masterclass continues to be popular and has received an average rating of 4.72 stars out of 5 from advisers.
• The Ethics and Dilemmas Masterclass, Advice and Best Practice Masterclass and Income Protection Masterclass are also now available as virtual classroom sessions with dates scheduled this June. 

Although delivered digitally, the masterclasses remain a place where advisers can interact, discuss case studies and ask questions, ensuring they provide as much value digitally as they did as face-to-face

New courses for a COVID-19 world

We’ve also created some new courses, designed to help you in a COVID-19 world. Some of those include:

• Navigating the medical and wellness impacts of COVID-19 for your clients. Now available on-demand, this course looks at the risk factors for COVID-19 and the impacts the pandemic may have on underwriting and claims. We also discuss the importance of mental health in these uncertain times. Enrol here.
• Adapting Your Business to Provide Outstanding Service Virtually. Also available on-demand, this course will help you operate successfully in a virtual environment. We’ll compare technology options, what the virtual environment means for compliance, and how to manage the transition with your team. Enrol here.

More ways to fulfil your CPD requirements online

There are now over 70 Risk Academy courses available online – either on-demand, virtual classroom or via webinar – and we’ve introduced another way you can earn your CPD hours with a series of CPD reading materials. The collection currently includes an article on business insurance and the first in a series about the golden rules of advice, and we’ll keep adding to it so you have yet another option when it comes to digital learning. 

In the months ahead, the TAL Risk Academy will continue to evolve: to meet your needs now, as well as anticipating and creating training to support you and your clients in the longer term. 

Learn more or register for the TAL Risk Academy here.