IAG has begun a new three to five-year program aimed at reducing some of the key risks faced by communities across Australia.

At its inaugural risk summit in Sydney last week the insurer brought together leaders from across the insurance industry, community groups, emergency management, the scientific community, government and the wider business community to identify the key risks facing Australian society.

The summit considered risks on the road, at home, in business and in the natural environment, in order to distill the most significant risk factors in each of those areas, and help IAG determine where it would focus its efforts in order to promote community resilience and make communities safer.

In the area of natural environment risk, IAG’s key areas of focus will be mitigation, land use and planning, a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au. Attention will also be paid to business continuity issues for business, and bodily injury both on the road and at home.

IAG will now undertake further internal work to determine what it is already doing in those areas and what it might be able to do in future before setting an agenda for action over the next three to five years.

IAG Chief Strategy Officer Leona Murphy says the company called the summit because it felt it could no longer just talk about risk. “We have to take some action.”

She says that rather than determine alone the most important areas to channel its efforts, the company decided to workshop many different risks with a diverse group of participants because “this is not something any stakeholder can do on its own”.

“The way in which IAG addresses risk going forward will be different,” Ms Murphy says. “We’re going to turn that passion into action.”

In his address to the summit, IAG CEO Mike Wilkins told the audience the new Risk Matters program is aimed at tangible measures to reduce risks faced by the community rather than insurance solutions.

“We want to help people and communities understand the risks they are exposed to and help them make decisions about how to prevent or reduce them,” Mr Wilkins said.

“Communities that are aware of the risks they face can plan, mitigate and will ultimately recover from loss more quickly. Safer communities mean fewer claims and fewer claims mean more affordable premiums.”

Mr Wilkins told the summit audience that “problems present opportunities”.

“This is a conversation that needs to be had and one in which IAG is pleased to be taking a leadership position.”