Timing is everything and for Australian life insurers, the decision to create a new peak body in June last year underscores the industry’s commitment to address the evolving landscape after the Hayne royal commission in 2018.

Christine Cupitt, who commenced as Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) CEO in January, says a “dedicated and collective” voice is needed as the industry prepares for potentially more changes in the months ahead.

These include the Government’s response to the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) final report’s list of 22 recommendations and an ongoing Treasury examination of the role of superannuation.

“So it's very good timing for CALI to have been created at an important time in the industry to really turn its attention to the longer term needs of the community and how we can better serve them,” Ms Cupitt says in an interview with insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Life insurance matters. It matters to the economy. And it also matters to the individuals who will obtain benefits from their insurer in the event that they get very sick or become disabled or their families need looking after in the event that they pass away.”

Before CALI, the industry was represented by the Financial Services Council (FSC). CALI members comprise of 19 life insurers who collectively represent 99% of the direct insurance market and every reinsurance provider in the Australian market.

Asked how CALI is different from the FSC, Ms Cupitt says a “big part is looking at ourselves beyond a financial services context”.

“We are thinking about life insurance in the broader landscape of health and disability and physical and mental wellbeing for Australians,” Ms Cupitt says. “So we're thinking of ourselves more broadly than a finance sector, and how we can work across the economy, and what more the life insurance industry can be doing to support some of those health and disability objectives.”

She says CALI has a “highly engaged membership and board” that is very committed to making sure that “we work with governments, with stakeholders and with the industry itself to make sure that Australians have access to the right level of risk protection when they need it”.

And that is where challenges facing the advice sector are a matter of huge concern for the industry, Ms Cupitt says.

“We are concerned about the number of advisers who have left the industry and in particular the reduction in the number of advisers who specialise in writing life insurance and risk protection,” she said.

“Life insurers want to see a strong and vibrant and sustainable financial advice profession.”

She says CALI backs the QAR recommendations made by Michelle Levy, who led the review and presented her report to the Government in December last year.

Ms Levy’s proposals including the creation of a “good advice” duty will “shift the dial” for the millions of Australians that currently don't have access to financial advice, Ms Cupitt says.

“We very much welcome those recommendations in particular, and believe that life insurers should have the ability to provide more help and more simple advice to their customers.”

She says CALI has had some initial conversations with the Financial Advice Association Australia, which was created recently from the merger of the Financial Planning Association and Association of Financial Advisers peak bodies.

“We’re very interested in how we can work more closely with them around improving the accessibility of advice for Australians,” Ms Cupitt says.

Treasury’s ongoing consultation on the objective of superannuation is another key focus for CALI, Ms Cupitt says.

The submission from CALI – one of two the peak body contributed to a federal consultation since its establishment – urges the Albanese Government to recognise the “integral” role of life insurance in superannuation.

“We’re woven into the fabric of how the system operates and we believe that the purpose of life insurance is entirely aligned with the purpose of superannuation, which is to enable people to live their lives in a way that is financially secure and with dignity,” Ms Cupitt says.

“Having life insurance in superannuation means that there are Australians that benefit from life insurance who might not otherwise have cover and that might be because they don't have access to advice about their insurance needs.”