ACC Higgins Funeral Industry Leadership Forum

The ACC Higgins Australian Funeral Expo and the 7th ACC Higgins Funeral Industry Leadership Forum was held in Queensland in November 2022 for the first time in 5 years.

The Funeral Industry Leadership Forum was well attended by industry participants from around the country. The Leadership Forum kicked off with a panel hosted by Simon Welsh the Director of RedBridge Group Australia, featuring ACC Higgins' Canadian partner Alain Dumont, President of Victoriaville & Co, John Finlay, Vice President of Legacy Tribute and Tim Higgins, Executive General Manager of InvoCare. The panel discussed key insights into future international business trends in the funeral industry and the emerging trends of implementing personalisation within a funeral service.

The panel discussion emphasised the importance of incorporating the increasingly digital world in the planning and attendance of funerals. Attracting and retaining the youngest generations within the workplace was agreed to be achieved through clear and open communication about the companies’ goals and how each team member is part of achieving these goals. Interestingly most new staff have no funeral experience.

Ashley Fell, Director of Advisory at the internationally recognised McCrindle presented her insights into workplace wellbeing. Ashley captivated the room with her humor and insightful presentation which delivered research-based analysis of global megatrends and key demographic transformations from generational change to the impact of technology.

Keynote speaker, Dylan Alcott AO, was undoubtably one of the main highlights for the day. Recognised as one of the country’s most successful paralympic gold medalists and most recently the 2022 Australian of the Year, Dylan’s achievements in the sporting world, the disability community and wider community are inspirational.

Marc Foi, founder and CEO of Firehawk, presented his knowledge of navigating the cyberworld, in particular cyber security. Mark presented key information on some of the issues funeral industry businesses face from cyber terrorists and how we can avoid them.

The Leadership Forum was concluded by a succession panel discussion, both Asha Dooley (Grace Funerals - NSW) and Kelly Scott (T J Scott & Son Funeral Directors - VIC) provided their experiences of family-owned funeral businesses and knowledge of the funeral industry that has been passed down the generations.

Simon Welsh went on to host a panel with discussion and a Q&A session with representatives from Group AHM, Walker Funeral Group, Propel Funeral Partners, InvoCare and Tobin Brothers Funerals who gave their brief pitch on each of their companies and values.

The ACC Higgins Funeral Industry Leadership Forum received overwhelming positive feedback centred around the great energy in the room with engaging discussion and industry purpose.

As proud naming rights sponsor, Managing

Director Peter MacLeod officially opened the 2022 ACC Higgins Australian Funeral Expo, Australia’s largest funeral industry expo.

The Expo welcomed over 1,100 industry participants to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. The exhibition space included many stands with products, services, and innovative ideas igniting education, networking, and sales opportunities to help funeral industry professionals serve families better.

The ACC Higgins stand presented sales aids and merchandising offerings and techniques, information on the structural integrity program and the re-launch of the latest ZoomIn Focus tool in partnership with McCrindle. On display were ACC Higgins national products including the Tasmanian Blackwood casket, Sapele Davidson, and they celebrated 14 years of Themes of Life coffins with the launch of the ‘Crystal Clear’ acrylic handles.

ACC Higgins were excited to be joined by their Canadian partners Alain and Charles Dumont of Victoriaville & Co. and John Finlay of Legacy Tribute who hosted the Legacy Tribute stand, showcasing the highest-quality North American solid timber and metal caskets exclusively distributed by ACC Higgins in Australia.

Thank you to all those who were involved and participated in the 2022 ACC Higgins Australian Funeral Expo and the 7th ACC Higgins Funeral Industry Leadership Forum.