The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has marked its progress against the 10-point plan for tackling disasters it released following the catastrophes of 2010 and early 2011.

The industry has made considerable advances in a number of areas, CEO Rob Whelan told the Australasian General Insurance Exchange conference last week.

But the key points of improved building standards and better land-use planning have shown “no progress” and “no progress beyond discussions” respectively in the past two years.

An education and financial literacy campaign is “in progress”, Mr Whelan says; ICA will launch its own initiative, a website called Understand Insurance, rather than wait for a commitment from the Government.

The standard definition for flood and the introduction of key facts statements have been completed, while improving infrastructure through mitigation projects has seen “significant achievement” after the recent announcement of $100 million in funding from the Federal Government.

Removal of insurance taxes has also seen “significant achievement”, with the phasing out of the fire services levy in Victoria, the removal of stamp duty from policies in the ACT and the review of the emergency services levy in NSW.

Progress on the remaining points is mixed, with “limited progress” on the provision of adequate flood data and “discussions occurring” on measuring the effectiveness of disaster relief payments.

A commitment from the Government to ensure the advice provisions in the Corporations Act do not impede discussion between insurers and consumers on appropriate cover is “in progress”.