Treasury is seeking submissions on its proposal to collect $24.1 million in total levies from the life insurance and friendly societies industries in the next financial year.

The proposed levies will go towards supporting Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) supervision of the industries, according to a discussion paper released last week by Treasury.

Treasury says the recommended levies represent a $2 million increase from the current financial year.

In the 2021/21 financial year, APRA intends to focus on the sustainability and resilience of regulated entities, including capital planning, stress testing, recovery planning and operational resilience.

The regulator will also continue to prioritise its work on the sustainability and ongoing viability of insurance products and strategies/ business models enabled by stronger risk governance and data.

At the same time it will look to wind down some specific COVID-19 response activities where improvements are evident and the operating environment stabilises.

The discussion paper sets out the proposed Financial Institutions Supervisory Levies that will apply for the 2021/22 financial year. The levies are set to recover the majority of the operational costs of the APRA, and other specific costs incurred by certain Commonwealth agencies.

The total funding required under the levies in the next financial year for all relevant Commonwealth agencies is $262 million.

The closing date for submissions is June 11.

Click here for the paper.