The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is seeking industry feedback on amendments to its operating rules after Parliament passed laws prohibiting life insurers from drawing on genetic test results when making underwriting decisions. AFCA opened the consultation on June 1, 2026, with the window closing at 5pm AEST on June 26. If regulatory approval follows, the rule changes are set to come into force on Oct. 8, 2026 – the same date the legislative ban takes effect.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures) Act passed Parliament on April 8, 2026. It bars life insurers from soliciting or using protected genetic information in connection with life insurance offers, with the prohibition kicking in six months after royal assent. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will be responsible for enforcing the ban, and the legislation carries both civil penalties and criminal offences for insurers found to be in breach. A statutory review is required every five years.
The law does not cover every scenario involving genetic data. Where a person voluntarily provides genetic test results in writing, and where using those results would not work against the individual’s insurance offer or policy terms, insurers may still rely on that information. The legislation also leaves intact existing underwriting practices that involve signs, symptoms, or formally diagnosed conditions. Individual complaints about how insurers apply the ban will be directed to AFCA for resolution — a function that requires the authority to update the boundaries of what it can and cannot consider.
Two provisions of AFCA’s Rules are under review: Rule C.1.4(b) and Rule C.1.4(d). Both currently operate as exclusions – they define categories of complaint that AFCA is required to turn away. The proposed amendments would carve out exceptions to those exclusions where genetic information is at issue. Rule C.1.4(b) presently bars AFCA from accepting complaints about underwriting or actuarial factors that resulted in a life insurance policy being issued on non-standard terms. Under the proposed wording, that exclusion would not apply where the complaint involves “an allegation of the solicitation or use of protected genetic information by the life insurer contrary to section 33H of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984.”
Rule C.1.4(d) covers complaints about decisions to refuse insurance cover altogether. AFCA may currently consider such complaints only in three circumstances:
A fourth ground is proposed – complaints alleging “the soliciting or use of protected genetic information by a life insurer contrary to section 33H of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) or section 46(3) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth).” The existing treatment of superannuation complaints under Rules C.1.4(b), (d)(i), and (d)(ii) would remain unchanged.
The changes would extend AFCA’s jurisdiction into an area of underwriting that has, until now, sat outside its remit. A complaint about a non-standard policy offer or a refusal of cover could, from October 2026, fall within AFCA’s scope if the complainant alleges that protected genetic information was involved in the decision. For life insurers, this creates a parallel compliance pressure: not only will ASIC be monitoring adherence to the legislative ban, but customer complaints about alleged breaches will have a formal pathway through AFCA. Insurers that have not yet reviewed their data collection and underwriting processes against the new legal requirements will need to do so before October.
AFCA has opened the process to all stakeholders. Written submissions can be sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Michelle Kumarich, executive general manager, jurisdiction and systemic issues, Australian Financial Complaints Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001. Respondents may submit anonymously, though AFCA has noted it will not be able to contact anonymous submitters if clarification is needed. Submissions will be treated as public documents unless the respondent requests confidentiality for all or part of their response. The consultation closes at 5pm AEST on June 26, 2026.
