The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) congratulates Deputy Chair Margaret Cole who has been recognised in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours List.
Ms Cole was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to finance through regulatory reform in the industry. Over the past five years Ms Cole has been responsible for the prudential oversight of Australia's rapidly evolving superannuation industry.
Since joining APRA in 2021, Ms Cole has overseen APRA's implementation of the Financial Accountability Regime for the banking, insurance and superannuation industries, and a broad range of government reforms to strengthen the superannuation industry and protect the financial interests of fund members, including the introduction of the annual performance test.
Ms Cole has also led APRA's multi-year uplift of trustee practices in investment valuations and governance, cybersecurity controls and in ensuring fund members' best financial interests were central to fund expenditure and other trustee decision-making.
APRA Chair John Lonsdale said the King's Birthday recognition reflected Ms Cole's significant impact on financial industry regulation, most notably superannuation.
"Margaret has been resolute in setting high expectations of APRA-regulated entities in areas including board governance and accountability. Nowhere is that more evident than in superannuation, where Margaret has driven substantial improvements in trustee resilience and accountability for delivering better retirement outcomes for Australians.
"On behalf of all at APRA, I warmly congratulate Margaret on this well-deserved recognition," Mr Lonsdale said.
Ms Cole said she was honoured by the recognition and paid tribute to her parents for instilling values that would shape her approach to regulation.
"A senior regulator has to have strong values of personal integrity and courage, to act without fear or favour in matters of great complexity and critical purpose.
"Such values were instilled in me by my parents who brought me up in a working class home in the northwest of England, committed to ensuring that I had education and opportunity without knowing where this journey would take me," Ms Cole said.
