Life insurers welcome strict regulation of industry use of genetic test results 

Christine Cupitt

The Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) welcomes a Federal Government ban on the use of genetic test results in insurance underwriting.

The industry fully supports the move to strict regulation, which will help ensure Australians are confident about accessing the information they need to better manage their health.

It comes after more than a year of collaboration between Australia’s life insurers, the Federal Government and other stakeholders.

CALI CEO Christine Cupitt joined the Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones for today’s announcement in Canberra.

“We welcome this decision and have worked very closely with the Government to help improve health outcomes for Australians,” said CALI CEO Christine Cupitt.

“We’ve long been clear about the need for strict regulation to ensure that no one is deterred from taking a genetic test to proactively manage their health.”

The industry has welcomed the inclusion of a five-year review, which will be essential to ensure the law keeps up to date with the ever-evolving genetic testing landscape.

All of CALI’s 20 members recognise that genetic testing can play an important role in giving people peace of mind and supporting them to reduce potential health risks.

Australia’s life insurers have never, and would never, require someone to take a genetic test for the purposes of underwriting. Any suggestion otherwise is simply incorrect. 

“It has never been our intention to deter people from taking genetic tests that give them more information about their overall health,” Ms Cupitt said.

“Life insurers want to support Australians to manage their health in a preventative way and recognise that genetic testing plays an important part in empowering them to do so.”

Background

Around 15 million people are protected by life insurance in Australia. The majority obtained their cover without ever having to disclose the results of a genetic test.

When a person does disclose a genetic test to a life insurer it typically works in their favour by indicating a reduced risk of a certain genetic condition. In more than 80 per cent of cases there is no impact on the final underwriting decision and in 14 per cent of cases there is a positive impact.