The Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC) says the formal launch of the cyclone pool introduced a pivotal period for the organisation and refining the scheme’s operations across multiple functions is among key focus areas. 

The ARPC 2023-27 corporate plan says it will be welcoming new insurer customers to the pool, engaging stakeholders across the government, insurance industry and affected communities and developing the team to ensure the right skills and capabilities. 

“Our purpose remains ‘protecting Australian communities with sustainable and effective reinsurance for terrorism and cyclone events’ while our refreshed vision is ‘a future where the Australian communities we serve are more resilient to disasters through access to affordable insurance for terrorism and cyclone events’,” Chair Julie-Anne Schafer says. 

Investment made in systems and processes to enable the pool to be operational will continue over the coming year as ARPC increases scale and operational capability with the expected growth of the cyclone pool, the document says. 

ARPC will develop data on terrorism cyclone and insurance climate risk to support risk mitigation and provide thought leadership to deliver risk insights. 

The organisation will continue to develop and strengthen the terrorism reinsurance pool, which provides insurers with cover for commercial property and associated business interruption losses arising from declared incidents. 

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) lowered the domestic terrorism threat level assessment to “possible” late last year. 

In its 2023 Annual Threat Assessment, ASIO said this means Australia remains a potential terrorist target, but there are fewer extremists with the intention to conduct an attack onshore than there were when ASIO raised the threat level in 2014.