Prior to her appointment, Ms Kennedy was the group head of protection strategy at UK life insurer Royal London.
As the new chief underwriter, her responsibilities will include the execution and development of underwriting strategy, as well as new business and underwriting operations.
MLC Life chief customer officer for retail advised insurance Melissa Heyhoe said, “Debbie’s intimate knowledge of UnderwriteMe and innovation in the area of predictive analytics will be invaluable as we seek to provide a more streamlined and efficient underwriting process for customers and advisers".
"Our ambition is to become Australia’s leading and most trusted life insurer. By attracting international talent like Debbie, we are making further inroads to delivering the best income and life protection solutions for the Australian market."
Ms Kennedy will commence her position later in 2017.