A forum featuring a wide range of participants was held last week to drive collaborative responses to insurance affordability problems.

Organisers and participants included representatives from the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Monash University, Finity, the Resilient Building Council, ARC Justice, Financial Counselling Victoria and the Customer Owned Banking Association.

Financial Rights senior policy and communications officer Julia Davis says the workshop explored practical, fair and co-ordinated policy responses to the complex problem of providing affordable insurance for older homes in high-risk areas.

“These are hard problems and they won’t be solved in silos or joint ventures,” she said on LinkedIn. “We need trust and long-lasting collaboration between banks, insurers, government, experts and consumers to make sure Australians living in high-risk areas don’t get abandoned by our financial security system.” 

Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino, who delivered a keynote address, says affordability for those at high risk of perils has become a significant challenge and the forum was an opportunity for idea generation in a collaborative environment.

“I look forward to working on reforms to improve access to insurance with stakeholders from across the ecosystem, including consumers, consumer advocates, insurers, banks, regulators and policy experts,” he said on LinkedIn.

The event, attended by 50 people in Melbourne last Thursday, was sponsored by Hollard, Monash University and Ecstra Foundation.