The Insurance Council of Australia will tomorrow launch a campaign calling on the NSW Parliament to scrap the insurance tax and deliver a fairer way to fund emergency services.

The move comes as a NSW parliamentary inquiry into emergency services funding reform continues, with 87 submissions published in response to an options paper. The inquiry is due to deliver its final report in November.

The Labor government, which faces a March 13 election, has stressed the importance of bipartisan support in moving ahead with the reform.

ICA last month released Lateral Economics research reinforcing the benefits, highlighting that the average household would be better off under a new model and those in high-risk areas could save about $565 on premiums.

The National Insurance Brokers Association and other groups have also pushed for removal of the tax on premiums.

Business NSW has also long called for action but warns proposed options in a Treasury paper increase commercial burdens, and business is excluded from the key reform objectives.

“It seems to us that the options paper’s stated design principles of ‘cost recovery, equity, efficiency, simplicity and sustainability’ are only achieved by reallocating costs to businesses to protect other cohorts,” its submission says.

“We can find no instance in the options paper of any additional financial burden being placed anywhere but on business.”

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