Heart of the issue: Queensland is hit by regular catastrophes, including 2017’s Cyclone Debbie. Credit: Bureau of Meteorology
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fter three years, two interim reports and more than 420 submissions, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Northern Australia Insurance Inquiry has delivered proposals that include the sensible, the controversial, the often-repeated and the long-ignored. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says it’s encouraged by the findings, the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) says it’s concerned, and Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill says it’s disappointing. ACCC Deputy Chairman Delia Rickard says the inquiry examined insurance in Australia’s north in unprecedented detail and the group’s regulatory powers and approach meant the review was “fundamentally different” to previous investigations. “Our analysis has shown that, with the right actions, northern Australian insurance markets could work much better for consumers,” she says. “We believe our wide-ranging recommendations would address many of the problems we have identified.” The Hayne and natural disaster royal commissions recently touched on some of the same territory, while a Senate committee, the Productivity Commission and the Northern Australian Premium Taskforce are among others that have taken a look. The ACCC says it was able to obtain a “significant volume” of detailed information from insurers and
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intermediaries that was not provided to other inquiries, and it brought expertise in competition, regulation and consumer protection to the task. The long-running inquiry was announced in 2017 by former Treasurer Scott Morrison a few months after Cyclone Debbie hit the Queensland coast, and since then further catastrophes and other insurance market issues have intensified calls for action. Historic floods hit Townsville in early 2019, the Black Summer bushfires burnt swathes of eastern Australia last summer and a hardening market has elevated concerns wherever risks are high, causing the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman to launch its own review. Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar requested a separate examination of reinsurance pools after the Townsville floods, despite the idea having failed previously to gain political traction and with the ACCC inquiry continuing. The ACCC’s 560-page final report makes 38 recommendations, with three specifically directed at addressing immediate affordability concerns. The final document adds 11 new proposals to 27 brought through from interim reports. The inquiry opposed a reinsurance pool in its 2019 second interim report and the final version confirms that view, while adding a specific recommendation that
