A steering committee met in Tasmania this morning to “start immediate work on priority actions” after RACT agreed to partner with TasInsure on making cover more affordable and accessible.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff says the “insurance market is complex” and the new partnership “utilises the expertise of RACT to accelerate the work needed. This work will prioritise delivering insurance for hard-to-place sectors, including tourism, hospitality and events.

“This recognises a shared commitment to deliver fairer, cheaper insurance for Tasmanians.”

An interim memorandum of understanding between the Tasmanian government and RACT is expected to be extended for five years.

Early work will include better co-ordination of mitigation investment, risk management support for small businesses and community organisations, and property-level risk reduction planning.

RACT says it will consult with small businesses and industry to “understand their insurance challenges and tailor policy responses that can bring down costs”.

In May, Mr Rockliff said Tasmania would partner with insurers and create a new non-profit statutory authority called TasInsure with a “broad mandate to oversee and support the insurance ecosystem in Tasmania.”

It was a retreat from an election promise to establish a state-owned insurer of the same name.

“I want to thank the premier and the Tasmanian government ...  for their commitment to finding a model that will deliver real and lasting benefits to our state,” RACT Group CEO Mark Mugnaioni said.

“Insurance costs have been putting pressure on Tasmanian households and businesses and that is why we have been working so hard on this challenge.

“We have always said this is not a problem any of us can solve alone, but it is absolutely something we can overcome together.”

RACT says its agreement with the state government is “the natural next step” after it formed partnerships with local councils and the University of Tasmania to improve insurability.

“Every dollar spent on resilience returns $4 in benefit and delivers direct insurance savings for households and small businesses,” Mr Mugnaioni said.

The Launceston flood levee cost $58 million to build but now saves $15 million in insurance premiums every year, RACT says.

Shadow minister for finance Luke Edmunds said today Mr Rockliff  is "contemplating underwriting risks the private insurance market is unwilling to take," and "needs to explain why he has been hiding plans to put Tasmanian taxpayers on the hook for insurance losses".

He pointed to government documents stating TasInsure intends to establish a designated risks pool and underwrite policies where "the insurance industry is unable or unwilling to provide policies that are reasonably priced having regard to the risk".

A reinsurance pool covering bushfires and floods is also in consideration.

"During the [2025] election he promised TasInsure would save households $250, sell insurance directly and not cost taxpayers a cent. That promise has already collapsed. The premier has replaced it with a $4.2 million bureaucracy," the opposition party said.