Issue date: Thursday, 23 April 2020

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will scrutinise the insurance sector over two days of hearings by videoconference on 28 and 29 April 2020, as part of its ongoing review of the four major banks and other financial institutions.

The Chair of the committee, Mr Tim Wilson MP, said ‘these hearings are an important mechanism for the Parliament to publicly scrutinise and hold Australia’s insurance sector to account’.

‘Insurance is an essential way that Australians and Australian businesses manage risk and protect themselves from financial loss after disaster strikes. Australians must be able to rely on the insurance sector to provide high-quality policies and respond quickly when claims are made.’

‘Given the widespread misconduct in the insurance sector identified by the Hayne Royal Commission, it is important that insurers and those in the industry are held accountable to ensure that they are making the crucial improvements needed to restore trust in the sector.’

‘The COVID-19 pandemic has also raised a number of relevant issues relating to policy coverage ranging from travel insurance, landlord insurance and income protection that also need to be explored.’

Public hearing details

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.