THE 2023-24 FEDERAL BUDGET: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR BROKERS AND INDUSTRY?

Federal Treasurer the Hon Jim Chalmers handed down his second Federal Budget as part of the Anthony Albanese-led Labor Government last month, prioritising cost-of-living relief measures that would help ease the financial pressure on Australians –while at the same time – put downward pressure on inflation.

We dig deeper into the 2023-24 Budget to find out how it’s going to impact insurance brokers and the wider industry.

Disaster Relief And Future Preparedness Measures

Some of the most important measures in the Budget are around better preparedness of Australian communities for future natural disasters. In 2023–24, the Government will provide $200 million through the Disaster Ready Fund to support projects like levee upgrades, seawalls and bushfire risk reduction projects.

More than $236 million has been set aside over the next 10 years to address critical, long-standing risks in Australia’s flood gauge network. This will be done in partnership with state and territory governments, to ensure communities, emergency services and businesses have reliable access to flood forecasts and warnings.

Further to this, $8.6 million will be invested to generate a National Emergency Management Stockpile (NEMS) of life-saving resources. This will provide state and territory governments with rapid access to critical disaster resources. A new cell broadcast National Messaging System (NMS) will be rolled out, which will use state-of-the-art technology to significantly enhance how emergency messages are to be delivered.

Andrew Hall, the CEO of Insurance Council of Australia has welcomed this investment.

“We know that communities across the east coast are still recovering from the floods in 2022, which were the costliest in history, so it is welcoming to see the Government continue its commitment to fund disaster resilience and measures to protect Australian communities from extreme weather,” he said.

Investment In Cyber Security

The Federal Budget has set aside over $100 million to boost Australia’s cyber security capabilities. The Government’s cyber security focus is welcome, especially because it coincides with the industry taking important steps to embrace a culture of self-reporting Code breaches, as outlined in the Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee’s (IBCCC) Annual Data Report.

Commitment To Reduce Regulatory Burden On General Insurers

Finally, the Government has also outlined a commitment to introduce legislation that will help ensure that current taxation laws are amended such that it helps minimise the regulatory burden on general insurers.

NIBA CEO Philip Kewin has welcomed the measures focusing on disaster resilience and tackling the increasing threat of cybercrime, while recognising that reducing the regulatory burden on insurers may help alleviate the burden of rising insurance premiums which is impacting on brokers and their clients.