Allianz Australia and Strata Community Insurance have extended their exclusive strata distribution agreement for a minimum of 10 years, securing the arrangement through at least 2036 and consolidating Allianz’s strata underwriting capacity under a single privately owned intermediary – an announcement that arrives as regulatory scrutiny of broker conduct and distribution arrangements in the strata class reaches its highest point in years. The agreement, announced September 2, extends a partnership first established in 2014. Under the structure, brokers seeking access to Allianz’s strata underwriting capacity do so exclusively through Strata Community Insurance, with no parallel access points for other intermediaries for the duration of the term.
Julie Mitchell, chief general manager of personal injury & commercial at Allianz Australia, said the renewal reflected a long-term commitment to a growing sector. “As strata living continues to grow across Australia, it’s important that insurance solutions keep pace and are designed to meet the specific needs of strata communities. Our partnership with Strata Community Insurance has stood for more than a decade because it’s grounded in deep specialist expertise and a shared commitment to customers. Extending that partnership for another 10 years under a national specialist partner gives the sector certainty and a strong foundation to keep investing in better outcomes for our strata customers,” Mitchell said.
Paul Keating, managing director and founder of Strata Community Insurance, pointed to the company’s specialist focus as central to what the arrangement delivers. “As Australia’s largest privately owned strata insurance specialist, our focus is singular – we exist to serve strata communities, and nothing else. That focus shapes how we price, how we assess risk, and how we advocate for the owners we insure and the broader strata community we are so proud to be a part of,” Keating said.
The partnership renewal comes as the strata insurance distribution market remains highly concentrated. Steadfast Group brokers approximately 40% of Australia’s strata insurance and underwrites about 55% of strata policies, according to the ABC’s Four Corners investigation. The 2025 Strata Insurance Ratings Report assessed 18 residential strata building insurance products from eight insurers or insurer/underwriter groups, highlighting the relatively small pool of available markets.
One in 10 Australians now lives in strata, with more than three million total lots across the country, according to CHU’s 2025 State of the Strata Market report – a number described as only set to rise. CHU’s report also found strata insurance premiums rose 2.8% in the 12 months to June 2025, from $954 to $981 per lot annually, while household incomes grew 3.4%, maintaining affordability for apartment owners. House insurance premiums rose 14% over the same period.
Competition in the strata insurance market has increased in 2026, with Strata Community Association (SCA) commentary published in May noting significantly greater competition for risk, more than 10 underwriters offering strata products and one or two new underwriters expected to launch products or add capacity during the year. Whitbread Insurance Brokers’ January 2026 market outlook similarly identified strong competition between existing strata underwriters as a factor driving premium reductions for some risks, while noting that high-risk occupancies, defects, and complex risks remain challenging to place.
The commercial announcement coincides with increased scrutiny of broker conduct in the strata class. The Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee (IBCCC) reviewed seven brokers collectively representing 1,088 representatives involved in strata management and found weaknesses in representative agreements, remuneration disclosure, conflict management, and oversight of representative conduct. The review resulted in nine formal breach determinations across all seven brokers.
Remuneration-disclosure breaches reported to the IBCCC rose from 42 in 2023 to 334 in 2024. The IBCCC’s 2025 Annual Data Report documented 5,417 code breaches affecting 14,842 clients. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) 2026 enforcement priorities, announced in November 2025, named insurance complaints and claims handling as a new focus area, with the regulator having doubled its new investigations and nearly doubled new court proceedings over the prior year.
Tyrone Shandiman, a strata broker and chair of the Australian Consumers Insurance Lobby (ACIL), responded directly to the IBCCC findings. “The findings are disappointing, but they are not surprising. Ultimately, self-regulation is a privilege, not a right. If the revised Code does not meaningfully address the issues that have repeatedly emerged through investigations, regulatory reviews, and media scrutiny, then government intervention will become increasingly difficult to avoid,” Shandiman said, according to Insurance Business. The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) acknowledged the findings, stating that “governance of representative arrangements must be tighter, and conflicts need to be actively managed, not just disclosed.”
The NSW Productivity and Equality Commission (PEC) delivered its Strata Commissions Review to the NSW government on February 27, 2026, finding that moving the strata management sector from a commission-based model to fee-for-service could generate more than $333 million in net benefits for NSW over 15 years, according to the NSW government. The commission set out four reform options, including prohibiting strata managers from accepting commissions, and noted that any move on broker remuneration would require Commonwealth cooperation as broker commissions fall under federal financial services law.
Federal informed-consent requirements, effective from July 10, 2025, require brokers to obtain informed client consent before receiving certain insurance commissions where personal advice is provided or likely to be provided to a retail client. The requirements can apply to strata insurance arrangements where those conditions are met. Separately, from January 1, 2026, Strata Community Association NSW members were encouraged to begin a voluntary transition away from the commission-based model towards an equivalent fee structure, phased over three years as existing management agreements are renewed. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has separately called for strata governance reform in Victoria, noting that poor governance and deferred maintenance are driving up insurance costs for approximately one in five Victorians in strata-titled properties, and that building defects in residential apartments cost Australians an estimated $1.3 billion annually.
