On 1 April 2026, an inauspicious date given the gravity of the subject matter, the Australian Parliament passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures) Act 2026 (the Act). The Act received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026. The amendments to the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) (
On 24 March 2026, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released its Insurance Climate Vulnerability Assessment (Insurance CVA).
The Insurance CVA is a prudential stress test that explores how a changing climate could affect home insurance affordability and the insurance protection gap over the coming decades.
During the Insurance CVA APRA
Background
On 29 January 2026, the FCA published its interim findings (MS24/1.4) on its market study into the distribution of pure protection products to individual retail customers (the Interim Report). The Interim Report focuses on issues identified across the following areas in respect of critical illness, term assurance, whole of life insurance
In September 2025, the consumer advocacy group Which? submitted a super-complaint to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) setting out its concerns in relation to the poor outcomes it considers consumers are experiencing in the retail home insurance and retail travel insurance markets (the Complaint). On the basis of its research and investigations
Following its consultation earlier this year (CP7/25), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published a Policy Statement (PS17/25) on the Matching Adjustment Investment Accelerator (MAIA).
This initiative seeks to enable UK insurers to capitalise more quickly on investment opportunities by removing the requirement for prior approval from
Funded reinsurance arrangements (FundedRe) in the UK life insurance sector remain a clear supervisory priority for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) following the publication of its supervisory statement SS5/24 in July 2024.
On 18 September 2025, the PRA published a speech by Vicky White, the Director for Prudential Policy at the
On 30 September 2025, the Australian Government announced a review of the Terrorism and Cyclone Insurance Act 2003 (Cth) (the Act).
Background
The Act provides the legislative underpinning for the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation’s operation of the Terrorism Reinsurance Pool (terrorism reinsurance pool) and Cyclone Reinsurance Pool (cyclone reinsurance pool).
As part of its 2025 enforcement priorities, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been taking on insurers it says haven’t treated customers fairly or in good faith. In its latest move, announced on 23 September 2025, the regulator initiated proceedings in the Federal Court against RACQ Insurance Limited (RACQ)
On 24 September 2025, the Australian Government issued for comment draft legislation that would ban the use of genetic test results in life insurance underwriting. The amendments follow the policy concern that individuals are delaying or neglecting to obtain genetic testing for fear that an adverse result will affect their ability to obtain affordable life