Laws banning the use of adverse genetic test results in life insurance underwriting began today after the reform secured passage in the Senate in April.

The ban applies to new policies or variations made to cover from today and will apply to all types of life insurance including death, total and permanent disability, trauma and income protection.

“Australians should never have to choose between accessing potentially life‑saving genetic information and obtaining life insurance,” Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino said.

“With this ban now in place, they no longer have to.”

A government fact sheet says the ban protects genetic test results that show a future risk of disease and certain other information about whether someone has taken or plans to take a test.

“The ban stops life insurers from relying on underwriting that uses or solicits genetic test results,” the fact sheet from Genomics Australia says.

“Solicitation includes asking for, incentivising or otherwise encouraging someone to take a genetic test (e.g. requiring you to take and/or provide a genetic test before you will be given life insurance).”

However, the ban does not stop people volunteering test results with written consent, and the use of such results in underwriting when it would not disadvantage the insurance offer or policy terms.

It does not limit life insurers’ ability to use other information for underwriting, including if a person has an existing disease, any signs or symptoms of a disease, or a person’s family medical history.

Breaking the new law could result in penalties of up to $1.65 million.

The life insurance industry has had a self-regulated restriction on the use of genetic testing in underwriting since 2019.

“We have long advocated for legislated protections, recognising the important role predictive genetic testing can play in helping people take preventative action to manage their health,” the Council of Australian Life Insurers said in a LinkedIn post.

“Today, Australians can feel even more confident about accessing predictive genetic testing and making informed decisions about their health.”