Australia’s four largest insurers are among leading companies that have signed an “open letter from the business community” urging governments to work together to implement the national plan for charting a path out of the current COVID-19 lockdowns.

“The National Cabinet has agreed to a roadmap which provides a path out of lockdowns, with an easing of restrictions from 70% and 80% vaccination rates,” the letter published this morning says. “We need to stay the course.”

The letter, appearing in daily national and metropolitan newspapers and authorised by the Business Council of Australia, has 80 signatories that together employ almost one million people and serve millions through their operations.

Insurance signatories are Allianz, IAG, QBE and Suncorp, while others include ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, Macquarie, BHP, Deloitte, GrainCorp, Herbert Smith Freehills, Shell Australia, Uber, Qantas, Wesfarmers, Woolworths, Mirvac, Perpetual, Telstra and Salesforce.

“We believe the National Cabinet’s roadmap, as informed by modelling from the Doherty Institute, provides a balanced approach to resuming the way of life we all desire while managing the ongoing risks of COVID. This is the hope we have for all our people, customers and communities across Australia,” a QBE spokeswoman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The initiative is supported by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), which notes the industry has consistently backed action by state and federal governments to protect communities over the past 18 months of pandemic.

“Insurers also know that the responses put in place to combat COVID are having other impacts, including in some cases affecting the ability of insurers to support their customers in the way they expect following an unexpected event or natural disaster,” a spokeswoman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The open letter says businesses have seen the effectiveness of lockdowns in suppressing the virus last year and in slowing its spread.

“At the same time, we can also see the impact of lockdowns on our people, on our customers, on our small business suppliers, and on communities and families right across the country,” it says.

“Australia is juggling a mental health emergency at the same time as a global pandemic. Some of the impacts of current lockdowns are hidden and the effects will be long lasting.”

The letter says as vaccination rates increase it will become necessary to open up society and live with the virus, in the same way that other countries have done, and businesses are taking action to facilitate vaccination roll-outs.

“We ask governments to work together to implement the national plan and chart a path out of the current lockdowns,” it says.

“Providing a light at the end of the tunnel will encourage more Australians to get vaccinated. We need to give people something to hope for, something to look forward to, something to plan around, and to be confident about their futures.”