Mental health discrimination: our submission on the General Insurance Code of Practice

PIAC has welcomed steps taken by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) towards ending discriminatory and unfair practices experienced by people with mental health conditions when accessing insurance.

In an interim report, which forms part of a review of theGeneral Industry Code of Practice, the ICA has proposed draft best-practice mental health principles.

The draft principles are designed to improve access to general insurance for consumers with a mental health condition and recommend a move away from blanket mental health exclusions, and ending the practice of automatically declining applications for insurance where applicants disclose a mental health condition.

‘After years of advocacy with beyondblue and Mental Health Australia, it is good to finally see the ICA taking steps to address the unfair treatment of people who experience a mental health condition,’ said PIAC CEO, Jonathon Hunyor.

‘Given that this code of practice commits insurers to upholding minimum standards in relation to a range of practices, and applies to all members, this review is an important opportunity for industry-wide reform.

‘While we would like some of the principles to be stronger, overall they represent a welcome move towards acknowledging and addressing systemic discrimination faced by people with mental health conditions when dealing with insurers.

‘We look forward to continuing to work with the ICA on these important issues.’

You can read our submission to the ICA here in which we provide our comments on the draft mental health principles and the Interim Report more broadly.