Outdoor recreation and adventure tourism companies says the federal government has an enabling role to play improving access to insurance.

Submissions to a parliamentary committee inquiry into small business insurance call for tort law reform and a review of public liability limit requirements, and say government should encourage insurer engagement with “risk-mature sectors”.

Outdoors NSW & ACT says since 2020 many operators have experienced insurers withdrawing or escalating premiums and excesses, in market actions that were not the result of deteriorating safety performance.  

“At a national level, the insurance market continues to price risk as an inherent attribute of activities, rather than recognising risk as something that can be actively managed, mitigated and demonstrated by competent operators,” it says.

“This results in blunt underwriting approaches that penalise best-practice businesses, discourage investment in safety systems, and undermine market stability.”

The Outdoor Council of Australia’s (OCA) Australian Adventurous Activity Standard was released in 2019 and has been followed up nationally by education, submissions say.

“Industry has taken responsibility for lifting capability, improving transparency and strengthening risk management maturity,” the OCA says.

Insurance outcomes improve when “brokers operate as strategic risk partners rather than transactional intermediaries”, the supply chain between operator and underwriter is shortened, and brokers and insurers invest in sector-specific understanding.

“The poorest insurance outcomes arise where underwriting decisions are made without knowledge of the sector, operational context or site-specific controls. This is a market design issue, not a business behaviour issue,” the OCA says.

The industry is calling for the government to support recognition of industry-led risk frameworks and to improve national data transparency, including around claims frequency and severity by sector.

Its range of proposed actions would strengthen consumer protection by supporting viable, well-insured operators that manage risk and deliver public benefit, the OCA says.

“The outdoor industry demonstrates that better insurance outcomes are achievable when businesses take ownership of risk and insurers are willing to recognise it.

“However, industry leadership alone cannot resolve structural distortions created by excessive liability limits and outdated legal settings.”

The submissions are available here.