The Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) welcomes the passage of the first tranche of the Federal Government’s Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Bill will give Australians more choice when it comes to getting advice about their life insurance needs. It will also back-in the vital work of financial advisers across the country and help reduce red tape.
CALI CEO Christine Cupitt said the Bill’s passage was a good first step to helping address the advice accessibility crisis in Australia.
“People need someone to talk to. Making decisions about your financial future is hard, and you shouldn’t have to do it alone,” Ms Cupitt said.
“Expanding Australians’ access to affordable advice helps empower them to make informed decisions so they can live in a healthy, confident and secure way over their lifetime.”
Independent research commissioned by CALI shows that in the past three months alone, more than a quarter of Australians have considered getting financial advice on life insurance but haven’t acted on it. Just eight per cent have received it in the same time frame.
A third of people who did receive advice on life insurance got it from their family and friends, demonstrating that the cost of advice remains too high and more needs to be done.
“We want to see legislation that allows life insurers to provide simple advice on their own products, when customers ask them to,” she said.
“We want to give Australians more choice at no cost to them. We shouldn’t be turning them away when they ring our call centres, giving simple answers to simple questions is basic customer service.”
CALI looks forward to continuing its work with the Federal Government on the next tranche of financial advice reforms.
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