Members invited to provide feedback for government inquiries
The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) is currently seeking feedback from members to assist in preparing submissions to a number of government inquiries, including Western Australia’s draft Workers Compensation and Injury Management Bill 2021 and the Tasmanian Fire Service Act 1979.
Workers Compensation and Injury Management Bill 2021
The NIBA WA Divisional Committee has formed a working group to provide NIBA technical expertise and assess the impact of the draft bill on the intermediated insurance market. The working group includes brokers from across the WA broking community, all of whom have considerable experience in the workers’ compensation space.
The Bill increases the cap on medical and health expenses and extends the point at which a worker’s income compensation payments step down, from 13 to 26 weeks. The Bill also implements lifetime care and support arrangements for catastrophically injured workers, delivering on a commitment between the Commonwealth and State and Territory governments.
Tasmanian Fire Service Act 1979.
The new Act is expected to be based on the recommendations of the Review of the Fire Safety Act by Mike Blake (The Blake review). Among the recommendations of the Blake review was that the insurance levy be replaced with a property-based levy or another suitable source of funding. This recommendation mirrors the findings of similar reviews of fire and emergency services funding in other states.
Opportunities for tax reform are incredibly rare – so to help amplify our message and show overwhelming support for this recommendation we kindly ask that our members consider making a short, one-page submission to the review, indicating their support for the abolition of the insurance levy and highlighting the effect the levy has had on your clients.
Submissions to the consultation should be provided by 5:00 pm 15 November 2021 to act.review@fire.tas.gov.au
For those who wish to provide a short, supporting submission the following key messages may be useful;
– Insurance-based taxes discourage policyholders from taking out appropriate levels of insurance, leaving them vulnerable if an insurable event occurs.
– The levy encourages policyholders to forgo traditional insurance models in favour of those that do not attract the levy, decreasing the total amount of funding available.
– Increases in premiums to due the 2019-20 summer bushfire season and the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have left many small businesses struggling to afford proper levels of insurance.
– Commercial policyholders are forced to pay the levy twice once in their rates and secondly on insurance.
See the Tips For Making A Submission document for more information. NIBA members who would like to provide their feedback on either issue can do so by contacting NIBA’s Policy and Research Manager, Allyssa Hextell.