Thought leadership

2 CPD Points

Getting to Grips With Indigenous Data

Getting to Grips With Indigenous Data highlights that, despite decades of focus on the rights and outcomes of First Nations people, limited progress has been made on Closing the Gap targets. The Report suggests that better progress could be made if changes were made to how data about First Nations people is collected, used, and controlled.

2 CPD Points

Providing Better Support for Children With Autism and Developmental Delay

The latest Dialogue Paper from actuaries Maathu Ranjan and Anthony Lowe explores the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) within the context of support for children with autism and developmental delay.

2 CPD Points

Not a Level Playing Field – People With Disability

This Report seeks to enrich the insights available from the May 2023 Green Paper by providing a deeper and more nuanced examination of inequalities for people with disability in Australia.

2 CPD Points

Not a level playing field

The Actuaries Institute paper, Not A Level Playing Field, for the first time brings together a raft of Australian survey data with new analysis to paint a snapshot of income inequality in Australia. Importantly, it builds on the established work of the Australian Actuaries Intergenerational Equity Index and the investment valuation work actuaries pioneered for Federal and State governments. The paper highlights that inequality is significantly higher than in the 1980s, with the wealthiest 20% of households currently having six times the disposable income of the lowest 20%. Wealth inequality is even larger with the wealthiest quintile having 230 times more net assets.

2 CPD Points

Research Note - An Introduction to Space

As our world gets more complex and reliant on space technology, the risks of this business increase and must be managed, and therefore actuarial skills will be valuable.

3 CPD Points

A Narrow Escape? The 2021 Australian Actuaries Intergenerational Equity Index

The Australian Actuaries Intergenerational Equity Index (AAIEI), first released in 2020, shines a light on differences in wealth and wellbeing across age bands in Australia and how these have been changing over time. This update adds two new data points to the index – 2019 and the ‘year like no other’, 2020.

2 CPD Points

Housing in Australia: Financial Journeys Through Affordability, Retirement and Climate Challenges

A paper presented to the joint conference hosted by ABS and RBA examining Australia's dual housing challenges and their impact.

3 CPD Points

Home Insurance Affordability and Home Loans at Risk

The number of Australian households facing home insurance affordability pressure has increased by 30% to 1.6 million in the past year due to rising premiums outpacing household income growth. In "Home Insurance Affordability and Home Loans at Risk", we update the Australian Actuaries Home Insurance Affordability Index and explore the factors driving this trend and its potential impact on the home loan market.

2 CPD Points

Home Insurance Affordability Update

This Report explores the context of all natural perils and discovered that the proportion of “affordability stressed” households – those that spend more than one month’s worth of their gross annual income on home insurance – rose from 10 to 12 per cent. These households spend on average 8.8 weeks of their income on home insurance, which is more than seven times what the average household spends.

2 CPD Points

Funding Costs for Floods: Affordability, Availability and Public Policy Solutions

This Report examines riverine flood risk alone and outlines a package of short, medium, and long-term policy measures that should be considered by governments, insurers, and other stakeholders to reduce affordability stress for households who are also facing the highest risk.

3 CPD Points

Home insurance affordability and socioeconomic equity in a changing climate

The Actuaries Institute has released its latest Green Paper, Home insurance affordability and socioeconomic equity in a changing climate. This paper launches the Australian Actuaries Home Insurance Affordability (AAHIA) Index, which measures how many days of income it takes a household to pay a home insurance premium - and showcases how actuaries use data for good, and their expertise on climate change issues.

2 CPD Points

Property Insurance Affordability: Challenges and Potential Solutions

This Research Paper examines the growing home insurance affordability crisis affecting 12% of Australian postcodes.

2 CPD Points

Housing in Australia: Financial Journeys Through Affordability, Retirement and Climate Challenges

A paper presented to the joint conference hosted by ABS and RBA examining Australia's dual housing challenges and their impact.

3 CPD Points

Superannuation Tax Reform

In Superannuation Tax Reform: Sensible Changes for a Fairer System, actuaries Richard Dunn, Michael Rice, Jennifer Shaw and Alun Stevens set out their vision for meaningful tax reform that aims to make super simpler to invest, easier to spend and fairer with bequests.

2 CPD Points

More Than Just a Roof - Changing the Narrative on the Role of the Home

While more than 80% of people currently aged 65 to 74 live in their own home, many of these ‘asset rich cash poor’ retirees are living more frugally than they need to. In "More Than Just a Roof: Changing the Narrative on the Role of the Home", Andrew Boal argues that we should reconsider the role of the home as a fourth pillar of our retirement income system.

2 CPD Points

Retirement Matters

Australia currently has about four million retirees, with another 670,000 people intending to retire in the next five years. <i>Retirement Matters<\i>, a Dialogue Paper written by actuaries Andrew Gale and Stephen Huppert, argues that the time for Australia to reimagine retirement is now.

2 CPD Points

Uplifting Superannuation Risk-Based Capital Management

The Actuaries Institute has released its latest Research Paper, titled Uplifting Superannuation Risk-Based Capital Management. This Research Paper aims to assist superannuation trustees uplift their approach to risk-based capital management by providing a framework and practical examples.

2 CPD Points

A Framework to ‘Maximise’ Retirement Income

This Dialogue explores how superannuation trustees may need to approach any quantitative requirements and analysis in order to satisfy Australia’s new Retirement Income Covenant legislation from 1 July 2022. In particular, we focus on a cohort that represents ‘middle Australia’ when entering retirement.

0 CPD Points

Developing the Retirement Income Framework

2 CPD Points

How COVID-19 has Affected Mortality in 2020 to 2023

The new Research Paper from the Mortality Working Group explores how COVID-19 affected mortality in Australia from 2020 to 2023 and how Australia’s experience compares with the rest of the world.

1 CPD Point

15 August 2023: Submission to Department of Health and Aged Care Consultation on Private Health Insurance (PHI) Incentives and Hospital Default Benefits Studies

The Institute recommends policy solutions to address the financial sustainability of Private Health Insurance including the integration of health system funding to further benefit access to, and affordability of, the health network.

1 CPD Point

29 March 2022: Submission to APRA: Review of Private Health Insurance (PHI) Capital Framework

This submission outlines the Institute’s views of APRA’s proposed revisions to the PHI capital framework and draws on previous submissions from July 2020 and May 2019. The Institute supports adoption of the Life Insurance and General Insurance Capital (LAGIC) structure for the capital standards in PHI and the introduction of the Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) to encourage better management of risks and capital in a consistent manner. The Institute supports the tailoring of capital standards to suit PHI and this submission details further recommendations for APRA’s consideration.

2 CPD Points

How to Make Private Health Insurance Healthier: Actuaries Institute Green Paper

Actuaries Summit 2019 The healthcare system in Australia is complex. It involves many funders and healthcare providers with competing interests, both from the public and private sectors. However, despite its complexity, the healthcare system in Australia is one of the best in the world and, for a long time, private health insurance has been a part of that system. So, without reducing or expanding the role of PHI in the healthcare system more broadly, how can the community get more from private health insurance? In this Green Paper, prepared for the Actuaries Institute by EY, industry and stakeholder consultation identified four key areas needing to be called out for change, being: Potential patients should be given a genuine informed choice about their treatment by improving access to the right information, providing patients with an independent advisor on their options (a ‘care coordinator’) and enhancing informed financial consent rules. Insurers who reduce unnecessary claims should be fairly rewarded by changing the industry’s risk sharing mechanism. Inefficiencies in the supply side of private healthcare services should be targeted through a combination of further government reform and more sophisticated contracting between insurers, specialists and providers. All stakeholders should work to improve the health of people with insurance by, for example, providing additional benefits/discounts for healthier people, increasing the rebates, levies and surcharges that incentivise people to take out insurance, and providing health management services to insured people. We will take you through the process and into more of the detail of the issues and options.

1 CPD Point

Climate Change Public Policy Statement

This Statement highlights key public policy positions of the Institute relating to climate change.

1 CPD Point

Submission to Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy - Second Consultation

The Institute is highly supportive of inclusion of ‘Climate change adaptation and resilience’ as one of the six headline ambitions for the taxonomy.

1 CPD Point

Submission to Senate Inquiry into Impact of Climate Risk on Insurance Premiums and Availability

Climate risk is one the greatest challenges and opportunities for all countries. While some of the risks of overall increased adverse weather conditions and events have begun to be realised, there is significant uncertainty over future decades.

2 CPD Points

The Impact of Climate Change on Mortality and Retirement Incomes in Australia

In its latest Dialogue paper, authors Dr Ramona Meyricke, Senior Actuary at TAL, and Rafal Chomik, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, discuss wide-ranging implications of climate change on mortality, superannuation contributions and retirement incomes.