IFSA officially launched its long-awaited Lifewise public awareness campaign last week in Sydney, to a large audience of life insurance industry contributors.
Details of the Lifewise campaign have been previously reported in riskinfo (see IFSA LifeWise Launch), with the official launch generating further impetus to take the underinsurance and broader lifestyle awareness message to the Australian community.
According to IFSA Deputy CEO, John O’Shaughnessy, one of the messages from the Lifewise campaign is that insurance is not the only answer to underpin individual and family circumstances, but it is extremely important that individuals and families should be aware of the issues that may or will arise in the event of death, sickness or accident, and the impact of these events on the individual and/or their family and business associates.
The Lifewise campaign focusses not just on the financial implications that may arise due to underinsurance, but it will also ask Australians to consider seeking advice on broader lifestyle issues in order to achieve the right balance in their lives.
Access to a budget planner is available through the Lifewise website, as is public access to an excellent, user-friendly insurance needs calculator, developed by IFSA members in conjunction with Rice Warner Actuaries.
Also announced at the Lifewise launch, as a way to address the underinsurance issue in Australia, was a call from the Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, The Hon Chris Pearce, MP, for the Federal Government to consider the possibility of allowing a tax deduction for trauma insurance premiums within the Superannuation environment.
Mr Pearce said he has committed to considering the inclusion of trauma insurance tax deductibility within the Coalition policy platform in the lead up to the next Federal election.
riskinfo will explore Mr Pearce’s initiative in more detail shortly, and will update riskinfo readers regarding forthcoming Lifewise initiatives.
In the mean time, the Lifewise website offers full details of its activities and services: Lifewise
