2025 Federal Election
We are seeking 2 commitments from political parties:
1. A fairer approach to general insurance, to help the 1.24 million Australians who are already insurance-stressed. Progress toward this can be made by:
- Increasing transparency in general insurance pricing and risk mitigation
- Increasing oversight and contestability of insurance premium pricing
- Addressing insurance affordability
- Removing the confusion in general insurance contributing to underinsurance, and
- Ensuring general insurers improve claims and complaints handling practices
Read the policy brief on general insurance.
2. A fairer approach to credit and debt, which we can progress by:
- Making bankruptcy fairer by implementing proposals announced by Attorney General Dreyfus in July 2024, including increasing the involuntary bankruptcy threshold, increasing the timeframe to respond to a creditors petition, reducing the duration of listing on the National Personal Insolvency Index, and removing debt agreements as a form of bankruptcy
- Improving Centrepay by supporting the reforms announced in December 2024
- Making financial products safer by ensuring they consider abuse prevention as part of their design and distribution products and obligations
- Protecting safe lending laws by committing to protect and uphold existing laws.
Read the policy brief on credit and debt.
Policy priorities and campaigns
Our policy and campaign work integrates with our hotline advice and casework, both from our financial counsellors and our solicitors.
We aim to identify systemic issues that contribute to financial hardship and consumer detriment, and then develop law reform, advocacy and educational responses.
We promote reforms in regulation, policy and industry practices that will help create a fairer marketplace for consumers, particularly disadvantaged consumers.
Financial Rights makes submissions to government and industry, participate in working groups, comment on draft legislation, undertake research, refer unfair practices and systematic issues to regulators and/or industry groups for investigation, and raise awareness through the media.
We also provide a range of publications including landmark reports, educational tools, webinars and newsletters to keep consumers and professionals abreast of developments in key policy areas.
Our policy priorities
Financial Rights recognises that there is a vast range of policy issues that impact consumer in financial stress. We must prioritise the issues on which we work to ensure that our resources are used strategically, efficiently and for the benefit of disadvantaged consumers.
While we will ensure we remain responsive to consumer policy issues and debates as they arise, we will retain our focus on the following priority areas during 2023-2024.
Financial Rights’ policy activities are funded by NSW Fair Trading, NSW Attorney General and ecstra.
Primary priorities
1. Pricing transparency in general insurance
Mitigation should be reflected in premiums; consumers need an independent pricing monitor
2. General insurance claims handing
Improving the insurance code of practice, lifting industry practice and promoting enforcement
3.Debt Management Services/Debt Agreements/Untrustworthy Advisers
Advocating for conduct rules and better oversight & enforcement
4. General Insurance Standard Definitions
Standardising fairer natural hazard definitions, wear and tear and related clauses
Secondary priorities
- Credit reporting
- CentrePay
- Bankruptcy
- Life Insurance
Supporting priority
- Solar on Credit
- Scams
- Buy Now Pay Later
- Strata Hardship
Enduring priorities
- Mortgage Stress and financial hardship)
- Responsible Lending
Enablers/Priority lenses
- Financial Abuse
- First Nations perspective
- Unfair Data and Technology use
