Minister confirms that broker commissions are safe

Financial Services Secretary Stephen Jones (main photo) has said broker commissions are safe. On Tuesday morning at the National Insurance Brokers (NIBA) convention in Adelaide, Jones gave delegates an update on government policy.

“The government has made a decision on that,” the minister said in response to a question from Insurance Business seeking his views, as some industry stakeholders, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), continue to call for a ban.

“Nothing has changed in our position”

“We have accepted the recommendation of the Quality of Advice Review and that is reflected in what we have done through the legislation we passed through Parliament in July this year,” Jones said. “Nothing has changed in our position.”

Strata: Broker commissions are not “the core” of the problem

IB also asked about the recent ABC-TV Four Corners program that exposed serious allegations of unethical behavior in the strata industry by strata managers and brokers.

Jones said he reviewed the report carefully.

“What seemed to me to be the problem wasn’t so much a problem within insurance or even within brokerage, but there are other problems out there,” he said. “I don’t want to dismiss them – that will have to be addressed – but I don’t think the broker commissions were at the heart of that particular problem.”

The NIBA convention at the Adelaide Convention Center ends today. The event is considered by insurance brokers to be their flagship meeting in the industry.

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