NIBA Welcomes Final ACCC Insurance Monitoring Report

The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) welcomes the findings of the ACCC's fifth and final Insurance Monitoring Report, which confirms that the pool is delivering meaningful premium reductions for households and small businesses in areas of highest cyclone risk. This is a positive outcome, and NIBA acknowledges the work the ACCC has done over five years to provide transparency and accountability around the pool's performance.

However, the report also makes clear that the pool has only ever been one part of the answer. Around half of all Australian households now rate their home insurance as unaffordable or barely affordable, a figure that spans the country, not just cyclone-exposed regions. Average home and contents premiums in the northern region of Western Australia reached nearly $5,000 in 2024–25, and premiums across the rest of Australia rose 10% in a single year.

NIBA has long maintained that the most durable path to insurance affordability and accessibility is reducing underlying risk through a number of mechanisms working together. The ACCC's own findings reinforce this view: some insurers still have not implemented mitigation frameworks, and consumer communication about the benefits of risk mitigation measures remains inconsistent across the market. This is an area where brokers are already doing essential work — helping clients understand their risk profile, the steps available to reduce it, and the cover that best reflects their circumstances.

NIBA also reiterates its concern that insurance-based taxes remain a significant and underexamined burden on policyholders. These taxes compound the affordability pressures the pool is trying to relieve. No monitoring report has examined their impact in detail, and that gap must be closed.

"The ACCC's monitoring work has been genuinely valuable — it has brought rigour and accountability to a policy instrument that matters to a lot of Australians," said NIBA CEO Richard Klipin. "As the ACCC concludes its monitoring role, the question now is: what comes next? The statutory review is the right vehicle to confront the bigger structural questions — competition, mitigation, tax, and long-term resilience investment. NIBA will be a constructive and active voice in that process."

NIBA remains committed to advocating for reforms that address insurance unaffordability and inaccessibility and supporting the resilience of Australian communities in the face of increasing risk.