The Insurance Council is developing a “Millennium Code” to replace its Code of Practice.

Writing in the ICA annual report, Executive Director Alan Mason said the new code will be a “wider, measurable and more flexible instrument of industry self-regulation and consumer protection”.

The development process has already seen the detailing of such factors as competency training, assessment and accreditation, e-commerce, the classes of business, privacy principles and the extension of the IEC complaints scheme to all industry business.

Five industry working parties brought the first phase to completion. Now ICA will hold seminars with consumer groups and legal aid organisations. Mr Mason said the present Code of Practice and complaints resolution scheme will be reviewed every three years by ASIC, and ICA “will continue to consult widely on their implementation and success”.