Governments around Australia should get behind the financial services sector and promote its well-being as an integral part of the Australian economy, says ICA Executive Director Alan Mason.

Writing in the just-released 2001/02 annual review, Mr Mason said that apart from the HIH Royal Commission, “there continues to be a procession of other inquiries and investigations into the industry.

He said the industry had never been as engaged with governments on community issues as it was over the past year. Noting that the ongoing challenge for the industry is communication with customers, he listed public liability, flood and terrorism as areas where communication is vital.

“This is not just communication about policy wordings, but how the insurance mechanism works, the absurd levels of taxation imposed on consumers and the inequity of these taxes.”

ICA President Raymond Jones said the industry’s code of practice will be overhauled as “the centrepiece of efforts to strengthen industry reputation”.

“It will be essential that the new code has the ownership and support of member companies at all levels if this project is to be a success,” he said. “It has the strong support of the ICA board.”