Medibank Private

Women are being appointed to ASX200 boards at a faster rate than ever, but a number of major Western Australian companies remain without any female representation on their boards.

Medibank Private won't be able to provide annual tax statements on time to the majority of its customers because of a problem upgrading its technology.

Medibank Private's annual profit has risen by 46.4 per cent to $417.6 million, but the health insurer says it needs to offer better value to customers.

State and federal governments are using transparency and consumer choice as a weapon to cut costs in healthcare.

Private health insurer Medibank Private no longer has any investments in tobacco companies.

Medibank boss Craig Drummond has committed to halting the decline in the private health insurer's market share by overhauling its approach to customers.

Medibank Private has lifted half-year profit 1.9 per cent to $231.9 million as higher investment income offset lower returns from its core health insurance business.

Dental services account for almost half of the extras claims made by customers of private health insurance giant Medibank, at more than $500 million, latest figures show.

The Australian share market has opened lower as two of the four big banks trade ex-dividend, and following a largely negative lead from Wall Street.

The Australian share market has closed slightly lower, dragged back by two of the big four banks - ANZ and Westpac - trading ex-dividend.

Medibank Private's turnaround strategy is beginning to pay off with the rate of customer declines slowing and company costs narrowing.

Medibank chief executive Craig Drummond says the private health insurer's policyholder growth since the end of the last financial year is twice that of the prior corresponding period.

NIB expects to earn $30 million less than previously forecast as claims inflation eats into the health insurer's full-year operating profit.

The Federal Court has ordered private health insurer Medibank to pay $5 million in penalties for making false representations to customers.

Preventing workplace sexual harassment requires action from leadership.

About one third of West Australian workers will need to be vaccinated to comply with government directives and the number is set to grow as private businesses follow suit.

A recent cyber attack has prompted Medibank Private shares to enter a trading halt while the health insurance group takes some of its systems offline.

Medibank's hackers are threatening to release stolen personal health information, and Cyber Security Minister Clare O'Neil says that's a "dog act".

A new commissioner will be appointed to help oversee cyber security breaches as part of an overhaul of the sector in Australia, the government has announced.

We seem unable to adequately protect ourselves from online threats.

Corporate level focus on cyber security is on the wane in Australia and New Zealand despite a 70 per cent surge in criminals targeting customer records, a report by BDO has revealed.

The federal government says it will support small and medium businesses to strengthen their cyber security as part of a new national strategy.