The Financial Services Council (FSC) has urged the Federal Government to pass its Life Insurance Framework legislation as quickly as possible.

“Every day we fail to pass this legislation is another day with inappropriate incentives in the market,” CEO Sally Loane told the council’s annual conference in Melbourne last week

“There is bipartisan support for these measures, so they should be swiftly implemented.”

Ms Loane says the FSC aims to rebuild consumer confidence in the financial services industry, including life insurance.

“We are working hard to restore this trust deficit with our own initiatives in self-regulation.

“This includes the Trowbridge review of life insurance, an independent review commissioned by industry – the first of its kind.

“This has led to a raft of legislative reforms and self-regulatory initiatives, including the development of a consumer life insurance code of practice, to be launched later this year.”

Ms Loane says groups such as the Australian Bankers’ Association are also addressing consumer concerns on remuneration, the handling of complaints and poor conduct.

“The FSC has set the agenda across the spectrum of superannuation, life insurance, trustees and advice,” she said.

“As the peak industry association for financial services, there are two things we ultimately aim to do in our advocacy role – create the case for good, proactive policy that benefits the industry, the nation and consumers… [and] do our best to prevent bad ideas taking hold.” 

Ms Loane says the FSC is still waiting for work to start on a product rationalisation framework for legacy life insurance products, as recommended by the Financial System Inquiry.