The National Insurance Brokers Association says the board will finalise its new code of practice in coming weeks, after receiving more than 300 pieces of feedback.

Contributions were made via submissions, a member survey, a national webinar, and workshops and stakeholder sessions, and came from sole practitioners and regional firms through to mid-tier networks and large multinationals.

Participants also included regulators and government agencies, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), consumer and financial counselling organisations, strata advocates, professional bodies and the Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee (IBCCC). 

“Good decisions rest on evidence,” CEO Richard Klipin said. “The board kept returning to evidence of client outcomes, evidence of broker behaviour, and importantly, evidence of client impact - not hypothesis, not hyperbole, and not what might simply feel good to say.” 

Draft code feedback has included criticism for not widening remuneration disclosure requirements for small business clients regardless of product, but the document has introduced the requirement for strata customers and any client that asks for details must be told. 

NIBA says brokers placed $35.6 billion in premium with Australian Prudential Regulation Authority-authorised insurers in 2024-25, or 46% of the market. 

Its report titled Complexity to Clarity: The Broker Advantage showed 95% of advised clients said brokers are critical to claims resolution, and 98% reported claims had been successfully resolved, while 91% said brokers helped them achieve better business outcomes. 

AFCA data shows clients accounted for less than 0.6% of the 117,000 complaints received in the past financial year. 

NIBA says the picture is different in strata, where an IBCCC review found none of the representative agreements it examined met code requirements. It made nine breach determinations and referred three brokers to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and NSW Fair Trading. 

In response, the draft code extends remuneration disclosure to strata, with the requirement covering residential and commercial strata corporations, whether or not the owners’ corporation is a retail client. 

"Strata remains the clearest pressure point, identified by AFCA, the IBCCC and a number of state-based inquiries. That is a real finding, and we treat it as one. Being evidence-led means going where the evidence points," NIBA President Nick Cook said. 

NIBA says a code that merely restates the law adds no protection for clients and its value lies in lifting the minimum above the legal one where there is proven detriment, and in being nimbler than legislation.