Industry Mental Health Initiative – IFSA

A new initiative has been launched that will focus on increasing the accessibility of life insurance for Australians with mental illnesses.

Earlier this week, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was re-signed in Canberra, which outlines a two-year work plan to achieve this goal. The MoU is a collaboration between the Investment & Financial Services Association (IFSA) and various stake holders representing the mental health sector.

David Crosbie, CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia, congratulated IFSA for its ongoing work in this area:

“IFSA have done well working collaboratively with concerned health groups at actually reducing discrimination. At the same time, we still have a way to go if people with a mental illness are to be treated fairly by all sectors of the insurance industry and the broader finance sector”, said Mr Crosbie.

IFSA Deputy CEO, John O’Shaughnessy, said “The MoU has already delivered significant improvements in terms of accessibility of life insurance for those living with mental illness, or who may have had a history of mental illness, and we look forward to building on this success.”

Importantly for advisers and their clients, Mr O’Shaughnessy added that the number of people applying for insurance who were declined by insurers due to the existence of a mental health condition has halved since 2003 and a majority of applicants have been able to obtain life insurance cover at standard rates, or with an exclusion applying to the mental health condition.

“By continuing to work collaboratively with the mental health stakeholders, Australian life insurers now have a much greater level of understanding as to the nature of mental health conditions and underwriters are now treating mental health conditions in a similar way to other chronic conditions which has significantly improved access to affordable cover”, Mr O’Shaughnessy concluded.

A new signatory to the 2008 MoU is the Financial Planning Association (FPA). Commenting on its involvement in the MoU, FPA Chair, Julie Berry, said the financial planning profession plays a key role in advising Australians when it comes to life insurance, and that the FPA sees the opportunity to be a part of this important initiative as an essential element of ensuring that financial planners can provide the most appropriate advice for all clients.

In other IFSA news, it was announced today that at the annual meeting of the International Investment Funds Association (IIFA), held in Montreal Canada, IFSA CEO, Richard Gilbert, was re-elected as its chair.

Mr Gilbert said, “I am honoured to be again elected to this position, as it reflects well on the standing of mutual and investment funds in Australia. At these meetings, the Australian regulatory and pension systems continue to be held in high regard by our international colleagues.