Plaintiff law firm Maurice Blackburn has called on the Government not to delay the implementation of a compensation scheme of last resort and other outstanding proposals recommended by the Hayne royal commission report two years ago.

It says nine of the 19 insurance-linked recommendations that the Government agreed to introduce have been delayed, such as enforceable code provisions.

Principal Kim Shaw says many crucial recommendations require “urgent implementation” this year after the Government deferred plans to act because of the COVID-19 disruption to the financial services industry.

“Commissioner Hayne’s final report provided a roadmap for changes that were needed right across the financial services industry to protect consumers from poor behaviour, much of which was well-documented throughout the banking royal commission,” Ms Shaw said in a statement today.

“Yet as recent reports have noted, it is now two years since that time and more than half of Commissioner Hayne’s recommendations are still yet to be acted on in full or have been abandoned altogether.

“The Federal Government has pointed to COVID-19 as the reason for delay on a number of recommendations, but the fact remains that many of these recommendations are now more important than ever in ensuring consumers are properly compensated for harm caused and protected from poor behaviour.”

She says the proposed compensation scheme of last resort should be treated as a “priority”, urging the Government to introduce it this year.

“There remains no good reason not to act on this recommendation, and we again call on the Federal Government to ensure that a [compensation scheme of last resort] is implemented this year as a priority,” Ms Shaw said.

The Government last year announced a six-month deferral to the implementation of the Hayne royal commission’s reforms that it has committed to taking up.