A coalition of consumer and strata owner groups is pressing the Queensland government to address an “escalating crisis of insurance affordability”, as pressure is stepped up before an October election.

The groups are urging the state to remove stamp duty on insurance and invest in resilience and mitigation measures to reduce the risk of damage from natural disasters.

“Queensland has become the most unaffordable and uninsurable state in Australia, with residents and businesses, particularly those in high-risk areas, facing exorbitant insurance costs,” they say in a letter addressed to Premier Steven Miles and Deputy Premier and Treasurer Cameron Dick.

“This situation disproportionately burdens those who can least afford it, exacerbating the challenges of insurance affordability, availability and financial resilience.”

A letter has also been sent to Liberal National opposition leader David Crisafulli and shadow treasurer David Janetzki. 

The letter is backed by the Australian Consumers Insurance Lobby (ACIL), Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumers Federation of Australia, Queensland Consumers Association, Unit Owners Association of Queensland and Owners Corporation Network of Australia.

ACIL chairman Tyrone Shandiman says the groups are highlighting the insurance affordability issue as parties release policies and campaign before the October 26 election.

Recent budget measures failed to address the problem, he says.

“State governments will always push responsibility for insurance affordability to the federal government, but when you are collecting over $1.5 billion in revenue and you have a state with such big problems with affordability and availability, you can’t just turn around and push the responsibility to someone else,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “State governments need to act on this.”

Financial Rights Legal Centre CEO Karen Cox says unaffordability is becoming widespread across Australia.

“By its very nature, this issue disproportionately impacts people on lower incomes who tend to occupy a greater proportion of housing in more disaster-prone areas,” she said. “Queenslanders face unique affordability challenges, so we urge the government to take decisive action to help address these issues before even more people lose the ability to protect themselves from risk.”

Unit Owners Association secretary and treasurer Bob Boundy says the exorbitant cost of insurance is affecting quality of life, and decisive action is needed to protect homes and financial wellbeing. 

Labor has held power in Queensland since 2015.