Financial Services Minister Dr Daniel Mulino has identified insurance, alongside scams prevention and financial advice reform, as key priorities within his portfolio — part of a broader policy agenda centred on productivity and consumer outcomes.
Speaking at an industry event in Melbourne, Dr Mulino said the government’s first term had focused on managing inflation, while the current term would concentrate on long-term productivity growth. “Productivity isn’t the only thing, but in the long run it’s almost everything,” he said, quoting economist Paul Krugman. He added that policy must also consider “…the way in which it affects the consumer and the citizen”, noting recurring issues of unequal bargaining power, product complexity and consumer vulnerability in financial services.
Insurance emerged as one of the themes in the Minister’s remarks. He described the sector as one where increasingly granular data and digitisation were driving efficiency but also creating access challenges for higher-risk consumers. “There can be a trade-off,” he said, “…between more accurate risk pricing versus what that can do for access to markets.”
Dr Mulino confirmed the government will move to restrict the use of negative genetic test results in life insurance. He said this policy seeks to strike a balance between insurers’ access to information and consumers’ right to affordable cover — while also ensuring Australians are not discouraged from undergoing potentially life-saving genetic testing (see also: Consultation Opens on Genetic Testing Legislation).
He also pointed to concerns in general insurance, where premium increases linked to property-level natural-disaster data are raising affordability issues. Dr Mulino said government action in this area aims to ensure “markets function in an efficient and sustainable way, but also to the benefit of the broadest possible set of consumers.”
…reform should “continue to professionalise” the sector
Elsewhere, he highlighted what he referred to as Australia’s global leadership in scams prevention, with implementation of the Scams Prevention Framework to continue this term. He also reaffirmed plans to improve access to financial advice, noting that reform should “continue to professionalise” the sector while making advice more attainable.
The Minister concluded that consumer interests would remain at the heart of his work. “There’s a lot of issues in my portfolio where the consumer’s interest is right at the heart of it,” he said.
