Small Business Insurance Inquiry Delay Keeps Reform Questions Open

The inquiry was referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services on 30 October 2025 and had been expected to report on 27 October 2026. According to recent industry reporting, the committee has received more than 100 submissions and held hearings in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne. The extra time has been granted so the committee can consider the evidence before tabling its final report.

That timing is important. Any recommendations may influence future policy debate, but they will not change premiums, policy wording or insurer appetite before the next renewal cycle for many businesses. Even after the report is tabled, government response, consultation and possible legislative or regulatory change would still take time. SMEs should therefore treat the delay as a reason to stay organised, not as a reason to postpone insurance planning.

The inquiry’s scope is broad enough to touch several recurring pressure points for smaller operators. These include whether cover is available in higher-risk sectors, how regional and remote businesses are affected, whether policy terms meet modern risks, and how current regulation deals with insurance challenges faced by small businesses and not-for-profit organisations. These issues sit alongside familiar concerns about claims inflation, natural hazard exposure, legal costs, capacity, exclusions and minimum limits required under contracts or leases.

For business owners, the practical response is to review what can be controlled while the policy debate continues. Useful steps may include:

• checking contracts, leases, permits and client agreements for minimum insurance limits;
• confirming whether activities have changed since the last renewal;
• keeping clear records of risk controls, maintenance, incidents and staff training;
• reviewing whether public liability and professional indemnity exposures are being treated separately where relevant;
• checking business interruption assumptions, including how long recovery could realistically take after a major disruption;
• reading exclusions, sub-limits, excesses and conditions rather than relying only on the policy title.

The delayed report may eventually provide a clearer national view of where small business insurance is working and where reform may be needed. Until then, insurance remains a business-by-business issue shaped by industry, location, claims history, turnover, assets, contractual obligations and risk management evidence. The key message is that public policy may be moving slowly, but renewal preparation should not.