Insurers are well placed to advise on risk reduction spending but must ensure consumers see premium benefits from public resilience projects, Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister says.

“The government has scarce public resources. It’s important we spend it well, and insurers are in a really good position to tell us about the kinds of things that will make a difference in reducing risk,” she told the Insurance Council of Australia annual conference in Brisbane last week.

At the same time, it is important that the sector talks with government about what is needed for mitigation action to result in reduced premiums, the federal minister said.

“Your sector frequently says, ‘Please invest more in resilience,’ and we wish to do so, but we also need to see some of the benefits of that pass through to consumers.”

Ms McAllister, who took over the portfolio from Murray Watt in July, commended the industry for cases where resilience and mitigation projects have reduced premiums.  

Queenslanders who accessed a household resilience program to make upgrades are on average seeing reductions of 13%.

“We have also seen insurers sign on to provide discounts for households that use the Bushfire Resilience Rating assessment and make their homes more resilient to bushfires,” she said.

“These efforts are a good start. They are great examples of how government and industry can work together to address the long-term cost-of-living pressures on Australians.”

Ms McAllister says work is under way to improve information available on risks.

“We need to have an honest conversation about what government can do, what the private sector can do, and what they will personally be required to do to manage those risks, because it’s a shared project,” she said. “You have to have good information to underpin that.”

Ms McAllister says all levels of government are becoming more focused on addressing infrastructure vulnerabilities when rebuilding following disasters.

“We are really interested in what states and local authorities can bring to us in terms of information about opportunities to build back better and to build more resilience into the assets,” she said.