The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has extended the deadline for lodging its redrafted General Insurance Code of Practice with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to late October 2026 – the second time the schedule has slipped – as a sharp divide between industry and consumer advocates sharpens ahead of the Code’s most consequential rewrite since it was introduced in 1994.
The ICA’s public consultation period closed on July 21, 2026. The ICA’s board agreed to the revised lodgement date, citing the number, complexity, and variation of submissions received, requests from some stakeholders for additional consultation time, the Code’s importance to insurance customers, and potential impacts on insurer operations.
When the ICA announced the redraft in May 2025, public consultation was expected in the first quarter of 2026, with the Code to be lodged with ASIC for approval by mid-2026. Consultation did not open until June 24, 2026. The late October lodgement target marks a further extension beyond an already-revised schedule. The independent review panel had recommended the ICA aim to submit a revised Code within six months of its December 2024 final report, targeting publication by end of 2025 with an effective date of July 1, 2026. The reform is the product of years of accumulated pressure. The Code has been in place since 1994 and is subject to an independent review every three years. The current redraft reflects recommendations from the 2023-24 Independent Code Review and the ICA’s Industry Action Plan, released in March 2025 following the Parliamentary Flood Inquiry into insurers’ responses to the 2022 floods.
The ICA said the draft Code was developed through extensive consultation with consumer advocates, regulators, and general insurance providers. Key proposed changes include making insurer obligations legally enforceable as part of consumer contracts – pending ASIC approval and for the first time — the automatic acceptance of home and motor claims left unresolved after 12 months, a new circumstances-based definition of vulnerability with an accompanying Extra Care framework, and broadened family violence protections covering financial abuse and coercion. ICA CEO Andrew Hall said: “We want this Code to be the strongest it can be,” adding that customers “face more frequent extreme weather, more complex claims, and new technology that is reshaping every part of the insurance process.”
The case for change is grounded in documented enforcement data. The General Insurance Code Governance Committee’s (GICGC) Annual Industry Data and Compliance Report for 2024-25 recorded 70,325 code breaches — a 20.5% rise on the 58,385 logged the previous year – with claims-related failures comprising 59% of that total. More than half of Australian general insurers that breached key claims-handling timeframes in 2024-25 could not say by how many days they had kept customers waiting. The GICGC oversaw more than $2.9 million in remediation payments to 13,528 consumers and imposed sanctions on two insurers for serious non-compliance during the same period. Complaints handling data from ASIC adds further context. ASIC’s REP 802, published in December 2024 following a review of 11 general insurers representing approximately 86% of the market by premium, found that insurers failed to identify one in six customer complaints, and identified only 85 systemic issues from over 1.4 million complaints.
Speaking at the ICA’s Annual Conference in October 2025, ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said: “The development of a new General Insurance Code of Practice that will be enforceable by contract is an important step towards rebuilding trust. However, unless the provisions themselves improve overall levels of consumer protection, it will be a step backwards. Simple cannot be code for stripped out.” The Code will be assessed under ASIC Regulatory Guide 183, which sets out the process for approving codes of conduct in the financial services and credit sectors. The Banking Code of Practice is currently the only industry code approved by ASIC under this framework.
If approved and implemented as proposed, the revised General Insurance Code would move key obligations from a voluntary industry framework to contractually enforceable commitments, creating greater legal exposure for subscribing insurers and allowing customers to seek remedies through dispute resolution channels such as the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) or the courts. Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino, also addressing the October 2025 conference, said: “Agreeing to make the industry code ASIC-approved and contractually enforceable is an important step. It tells consumers that this isn't just words on a page – it’s backed by real accountability.”
The consultation process has drawn pointed public responses from consumer organisations. The Australian Consumers Insurance Lobby (ACIL) called on the federal government to remove responsibility for the Code from the ICA. ACIL spokesperson Tyrone Shandiman said: “After years of inquiries, reviews, and public criticism, the industry was handed a clear roadmap for reform. Instead, it has chosen to water down existing protections and leave many of the most significant recommendations unaddressed. This is no longer a drafting issue. It is a governance failure.” ACIL said it supports contractual enforceability in principle but argues that “a weak code that is contractually enforceable is still a weak code.” The Financial Rights Legal Centre, Financial Counselling Australia (FCA), and Consumer Action Law Centre warned jointly that government intervention may be needed if insurers fail to significantly strengthen the redrafted Code. Financial Rights’ Drew MacRae said: “The current consultation is the industry’s last chance to step up and make the changes it needs to regain the trust of Australians.”
The ICA stated it will provide its considered response to all submissions ahead of lodgement. The current Code remains in effect in the interim. For compliance teams at subscribing insurers, the revised timeline extends planning uncertainty on policy wordings, product disclosure statement updates, and vulnerability framework implementation – with contractual enforceability still unlikely to take effect before the 2027-2028 window even after a late October lodgement.
