The insurance industry in Australia is sophisticated, well structured and one of the best developed in the world. For persons applying for immigration to the country, it important to know that there are three distinct areas of insurance in the country – health insurance, general insurance and life insurance. In the past, most insurers would focus on either one of these three areas. However, mergers and acquisitions among insurers, and the emergence of consolidated financial services groups, many insurers now offer all three forms of insurance.
The largest providers of life insurance in Australia include AXA, AMP Limited and Allianz Australia. Life insurance is not only offered by insurance firms. Credit unions (referred to as cooperative societies in some countries) as well as friendly societies also sell life insurance policies. Life insurance firms also sell superannuation products.
There are two forms of health insurance in Australia – public and private. The public health insurance program in Australia is known as Medicare. Private insurance policies will often be used to cover services that are not included in the Medicare.
While Medicare is effectively tax funded, the government encourages persons that earn more than $76000 per annum to take out private insurance cover. This is done through an extra 1% levy (over and above the standard 1.5% levy every Australian worker must pay) for any person that earns over $76,000 but that has not taken out private health insurance. Interestingly, the biggest provider of private health insurance in the country, Medibank Private, is government owned.
There are two forms of general insurance in Australia – liability insurance and property insurance. Liability insurance covers everything from third party car insurance and workman’s compensation to general business insurance and professional indemnity policies. Property insurance on the other hand includes comprehensive motor vehicle insurance, travel insurance and home insurance. The specific requirements for insurance covers that are required by law such as motor vehicle third party and workman’s compensation may differ between states. The three biggest providers of general insurance policies in Australia are Suncorp, QBE Insurance and Insurance Australia Group.
Procedural and best practice matters touching on the insurance industry are regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority. Issues that have to do with the structure of insurance policies are handled by the ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission). Some states however have their own regulatory bodies to develop state level policy but only to the extent that it does not contradict the policy of federal government. An example of such state level organizations is the Motor Accidents Authority in New South Wales which is in charge of third party car insurance.
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References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_in_Australia
