Opening Statement to Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia

25 November 2022

Dr Chris Wallace, CEO, Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation

Thank you Chair and members of the Committee for the invitation to appear today.

ARPC welcomed the passing of legislation in late March this year, which established the cyclone reinsurance pool to be administered by ARPC.

The cyclone pool will cover losses caused by cyclonic winds, cyclone-related flooding, and storm surge. We estimate it will cover 3.3 million households, 220,000 small businesses, and 140,000 residential strata and small commercial strata properties.

ARPC is working closely with insurer customers to enable their onboarding to the cyclone pool. We are focused on making our support to insurers as efficient and effective as we can.

We are delighted by the news that Allianz looks to have transitioned its home insurance book to the cyclone pool by 1 January 2023 and encourage others to move, too.

We want to make a success of the new cyclone pool across cyclone-prone regions, and I am confident we will contribute to making insurance more affordable across cyclone-prone communities.

I am pleased to take Committee Members’ questions.

Media enquiries

Dr Christopher Wallace ARPC CEO, or Alexander Drake Head of Public Affairs, on +61 2 8223 6777 or [email protected]