Australia

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake about 100 kilometres offshore shook Adelaide and much of South Australia on October 27, 2026, with no damage or injuries reported at the time, prompting a look at how standard Australian home and contents policies treat earthquake damage and what history says about the state's seismic risk.

Insurance Australia Group told the ASX on October 28, 2026 that its subsidiary had agreed to resolve the White Oak claim of about A$170 million, the last of the Greensill proceedings, on confidential terms and without a material effect on its financial position or FY27 results, following earlier settlements of about A$4 billion and A$2.8 billion in face value.

SIRA confirmed that New South Wales compulsory third party benefits were indexed from October 1, 2026, taking the maximum weekly statutory benefit to A$3,853 and the maximum non-economic loss damages to A$521,000, while the average Green Slip was A$536 in the year to June 2025 and the effect of the new indexation on premiums has not been quantified.

The Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation's 2025-26 annual report says the cyclone pool has paid more than A$1 billion in claims since 2022 after nine declared cyclone events, without drawing on its A$10 billion government guarantee, while premium discounts for mitigation had reached only A$1,716 for strata buildings.

ASIC has filed civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against David Anderson and Simon Selimaj of Falcon Capital over the First Guardian fund, alleging that more than 6,000 investors put in over A$600 million, mostly from superannuation, while the collapse pushes the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort's FY2027 estimate to A$198.1 million; none of the allegations has been proven.

ASIC announced on October 30, 2026 that the Federal Court of Australia has found two former directors and officers of the collapsed Youpla Group breached their duties, with Ronald Pattenden agreeing to a A$250,000 penalty and a 15-year ban, while penalties for Bryn Jones and decisions on three others remain outstanding.

The New South Wales State Insurance Regulatory Authority imposed A$479,500 in civil penalties on Insurance Australia Limited, trading as NRMA Insurance, on October 22, 2026 for eight CTP premium pricing failures, the largest of which affected about 41,564 policies with estimated gross overcharges of about A$12.2 million.

Insurers received more than 400,000 home repair and rebuild claims from declared events in Australia from 2022 to 2026 at an insured cost of A$11.3 billion, with Queensland accounting for over 214,000 claims, as the Insurance Council of Australia urges that natural hazard protections stay central to Queensland's State Planning Policy review.

Insurance Australia Group reported FY26 net profit after tax of A$1.022 billion on A$18.4 billion of gross written premium after 109 weather events, and is separately trying to save its RAC Western Australia deal by offering NRMA renewal rights and resilience commitments to the ACCC.

The Insurance Council of Australia puts annual regulatory compliance costs at A$2.5 billion to A$3.5 billion, 4% to 6% of gross written premium, and APRA said on September 24, 2026 that its 2026-27 measures aim for a broadly net neutral burden, with new reinsurance standards starting January 1, 2027.

Suncorp's FY26 annual review reports net profit after tax of A$1,027 million, 18 declared natural hazard events that exceeded the allowance by A$254 million, a 52 cent final dividend and up to A$250 million of further buy-backs, while a regulator review of insurers' claims handling continues in the background.

Victoria has gazetted mandatory flood planning provisions with five Flood Risk Ratings from FRR1 to FRR5, and the Insurance Council of Australia backs the change while arguing that insurers also need the latest flood maps, as APRA data show home premiums rising far faster than wages.

The Insurance Council of Australia has submitted a revised General Insurance Code of Practice to ASIC that would write its obligations into consumer contracts and automatically accept home and motor property claims left undecided for 12 months, while AFCA's 2025-26 review recorded 36,022 general insurance complaints, up 5%, with claim delays up 25% to 8,246.

TAL, the Australian life insurer owned by Japan's Dai-ichi Life, proposed on October 19, 2026 to buy the roughly 79.5% of Challenger it does not already own at A$11.80 a share, a 19.8% premium valuing Challenger at a little under A$8 billion; the proposal is non-binding and conditional on due diligence, approvals and a shareholder vote.

After the Financial Times reported in August 2026 that Tokio Marine had picked Suncorp as its preferred acquisition target, Suncorp told the ASX on October 1 that it was not in takeover discussions and had received no offer, leaving a story built on unnamed sources, no stated price and a long list of approvals.

TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia, a subsidiary of Japan's Daiichi Life Group, has made a non-binding indicative proposal to buy the remaining 79.5% of Challenger at A$11.80 per share through a scheme of arrangement, subject to due diligence, final terms and regulatory approvals.

On July 7, 2026 APRA finalised amendments to its general insurance reinsurance framework, effective January 1, 2027, making alternative reinsurance arrangements easier to access and reducing approval requirements, with updated reporting forms due in the test environment in September 2026.

In a letter dated September 30, 2026, ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland told insurer boards it will review for-profit claims management firms, found that no sampled motor insurer explained why premiums changed, and said at least 63% of finalised Cyclone Jasper home claims included a cash settlement.

Health Minister Mark Butler re-introduced a bill on October 15 removing the age-based private health insurance rebate uplift from April 1, 2027, a day after the Senate removed it from the notice paper by 38 votes to 23.

September labour force data show the highest jobless rate in about five years, with employment falling when economists expected a gain, just after the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.60%.

The Reserve Bank's October Financial Stability Review finds strong bank capital and a well-capitalised insurance sector under weather pressure, while APRA's stress test shows the home insurance protection gap widening.

Australia's corporate regulator has set its 2026-27 general insurance priorities, finding that no sampled motor insurer explained premium changes and that at least 63% of finalised Cyclone Jasper claims included cash settlements.

Australia's prudential regulator proposed in July to amend ten prudential standards, fifteen reporting standards and two practice guides, with submissions closed on August 21, finalisation expected in November and most changes starting January 1, 2027.

Revolut announced on July 21, 2026 that APRA has granted it an independent authorised deposit-taking institution licence, so it now operates as Revolut Bank Australia for more than 1 million Australian retail customers, plans to invest nearly A$400 million over five years and says eligible deposits are covered by the Financial Claims Scheme up to A$250,000.

ASIC secured $830 million in court-ordered civil penalties and $644 million in consumer remediation in 2025-26, against $104.1 million in penalties the year before; insurance-related actions include the $23.5 million Cbus trustee penalty over claims delays and cases against Hollard and RACQ Insurance, and insurance complaints and claims handling remain a 2026 priority.

NAB Insurance, underwritten by Allianz, and CommBank Insurance, underwritten by Hollard, have joined NRMA and Suncorp in recognising Resilience Ratings, so households that make bushfire upgrades can earn premium reductions of 5% to 21%, according to the Minister for Home Affairs' announcement and industry coverage.

On July 7, 2026 the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority finalised amendments to its general insurance reinsurance framework: a reinstatement is not required where one is typically unavailable, as with catastrophe bonds; the Appointed Actuary can decide capital treatment for many arrangements; and the new rules take effect on January 1, 2027.

On March 31, 2026 APRA finalised amendments letting life insurers use an 'advanced illiquidity premium' to set capital for longevity products, with added governance, reporting and asset controls and a 45% floor kept after consultation; the changes took effect on July 1, 2026.

APRA's readiness letter of March 25, 2026 says funds must receive and allocate employer contributions, or return them, within three business days from July 1, 2026; the ATO estimates unpaid super topped A$6 billion in the last financial year, and SuperStream 3.0 starts on the same date.

APRA published the findings of its inaugural System Risk Stress Test on 30 June 2026, in which the four major banks and six large superannuation funds withstood a severe but plausible shock and rebuilt liquidity, while the regulator flagged concentration, mismatched behavioural assumptions and shared service providers as vulnerabilities and said it will propose changes to bank liquidity requirements.

Zurich Australia and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Australia announced on July 1, 2026 the Mercedes-Benz Elite Motor Insurance product for personal and commercial vehicles, issued by Zurich Australian Insurance Limited and sold through authorised Mercedes-Benz agents, with finance gap cover of up to an additional 30% and up to $10 million of liability cover for electric vehicles.

Zurich Financial Services Australia acquired ClearView Wealth on August 20, 2026 through a scheme of arrangement at A$0.60 cash per share, about A$385 million, after approval from the ACCC, APRA, shareholders and the NSW Supreme Court, and will run Zurich, OnePath and ClearView as separate life insurance propositions.

Insurance Australia Group, through its venture arm Firemark Ventures, made an undisclosed investment in Sonder, a round-the-clock mental health, medical and safety platform it plans to extend to customers of NRMA Insurance, CGU, WFI and ROLLiN' during major incidents.

In a letter dated May 2026 and signed by Commissioner Simone Constant, ASIC said misuse of frontier AI could expose vulnerabilities faster and at greater scale; it urges firms to patch quickly, limit exposure, test incident plans and table the letter at the board.

APRA data to March 2026 show householders insurance earning about $4.25 billion of quarterly premium yet slipping into underwriting losses in four of ten quarters, while average premiums rose 51% between 2020 and late 2025.

APRA's quarterly statistics for March 2026, published on May 28, show total superannuation assets of A$4,437.9 billion, up 7.9% in a year, with contributions up 11.3% to A$226.1 billion, benefit payments up 12.3% to A$143.5 billion and an annual rate of return of 7.4%.

APRA's March 2026 quarterly statistics, released May 28, show total superannuation assets of A$4,437.9 billion, down 1.0% on the quarter and up 7.9% on the year, with contributions up 11.3% and benefit payments up 12.3%.

APRA finalised targeted changes to its CPS 230 operational risk standard on April 30, 2026, exempting material arrangements with certain non-traditional service providers from specific contract terms where compliance is not practicable, effective July 1, 2026.