Insurance Council of Australia chair Steve Johnston says the new code of practice marks a step change for the sector and he has urged support for the document as it moves through the regulatory approval process.

The peak body has for the first time submitted its code to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which Mr Johnston says will soon undertake consultations.

“While [the code] may not tick every box of the broad range of stakeholders that we have consulted, we believe this is a huge step forward for our industry and the consumers that rely on us, and it should be supported,” he told the ICA Annual Conference in Sydney this morning.

Steve Johnston addresses the ICA conference

“This is the moment to take this industry forward, and we have to put aside all of our views to the extremity and lock in behind it, in my view.”

Mr Johnston also said the industry is working with federal Treasury to find practical options to help householders better understand what drives their home and contents premiums.

The issue will become more important as insurance becomes more personalised, he said.

“As a traditional pooling of risk concept is fundamentally challenged, customers will rightly expect any investment in mitigation and resilience to be reflected in their premium.

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“And as an industry, we must stand ready to accept this challenge and facilitate this reform.”

Mr Johnston says more action is needed to reduce risk and address affordability and availability issues, building on industry advocacy that has put mitigation investment “firmly on the national agenda”, with funds starting to flow.

“The challenge, though, is that we’re now faced with a shortage of design-ready projects which would fundamentally move the dial on Australia’s mitigation imperative,” he said.

Mr Johnston said it is time to “turn the dial up” on nation-building and transformational infrastructure projects such as levee banks, water storage facilities and modern urban stormwater systems.

“We have made great advances in how we think about a more resilient Australia, but it’s time to think big, to create a clear, long-term national agenda, one that commits the resources and co-ordination of the Commonwealth to deliver resilience infrastructure initiatives that provide real benefit to those communities in real need,” he said.

Difficult conversations are needed for those homes and communities that can never be made sufficiently resilient, and tax reform is required to reduce burdens, he said.