The “Alliance for the Equitable Funding of Fire Services”, which is lobbying the NSW Government to abolish the fire services levy (FSL), held a press conference in Sydney last week to further its case as a parliamentary committee prepares to release its report on the levy.

The alliance is making much of the fact that those who do not insure, and corporations that self-insure or obtain cover from outside Australia, don’t pay the levy. It says up to 25% of householders have neither home nor contents insurance, and brokers are reporting an increasing number of large companies wanting to place their cover overseas to avoid paying the FSL.

Alan Hansell, the Insurance Council of Australia's Manager for NSW and the ACT, says all relevant ministers and shadow ministers have been consulted by the alliance. “The current system penalises people who prudentially insure and we’re simply pointing out how crazy this system is.”

The Public Accounts Committee of the NSW Parliament, which is reviewing the state’s fire brigades funding, will report on Thursday. The committee has released a model indicating that a non-insurance system would save rural businesses substantial sums of money. Under the best-case scenario, 97% of insured householders living outside Sydney (including farmers) would be better off under a property tax-based system. Up to 75% of Sydney’s domestic policyholders would also pay less.

As for business, the research found that 86% of rural and regional businesses and 60% of those in the metropolitan area would also be better off.