APRA deputy chair Margaret Cole has been recognised in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours List for her contribution to financial regulation, including oversight of reforms that have reshaped Australia’s superannuation sector.
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, she has been responsible for the prudential oversight of Australia’s rapidly evolving superannuation industry, leading a range of reforms aimed at strengthening governance, accountability and member outcomes.
Since joining APRA in 2021, Cole has overseen the regulator’s implementation of the Financial Accountability Regime across the banking, insurance and superannuation sectors.
She has also led the rollout of government reforms designed to strengthen the superannuation industry and protect members’ financial interests, including the introduction of the annual performance test.
Her work has extended to APRA’s multi-year effort to improve trustee practices in investment valuations and governance, cybersecurity controls, and ensuring members’ best financial interests remained central to fund expenditure and trustee decision-making.
APRA chair John Lonsdale said the honour reflected Cole’s influence on financial industry regulation, particularly within 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,” Lonsdale said.
Cole said she was honoured to receive the recognition and acknowledged the influence of her upbringing on 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,” Cole said.
