The July 1 deadline for the DOFI bill is likely to slip by at least three months, says NIBA CEO Noel Pettersen.

"While Treasury did not confirm it, it is likely that the new arrangements will be deferred until October 1 2008 or January 1 2009," Mr Pettersen told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

"At this stage the new Minister [Chris Bowen] has not focused on the matter and Treasury is very much aware that firm guidelines are needed by the end of February for a July 1 2008 start."

An announcement on the scope of the exemption regime won't be ready until next month, Treasury manager Vicki Wilkinson told ICA's regulatory seminar last week.

But she remains hopeful the deadline will be met. "We would be very disappointed to see further delays."

The Government will analyse an annual report to ascertain the level of premiums flowing out of the Australian market via the exemptions and check for "abuse or unexpected flows".

But it will only review the list of atypical risks once every three years.

"We don't want to keep changing every year as insurers come in and cherry pick," Ms Wilkinson said.