Groundbreaking research into LGBTQIA+ experiences with Insurance and insurers
In 2021, InsurePride (formerly the InterInsurance Network) approached The Victorian Pride Lobby to support an investigation into the experiences of LGBTQIA+ customers when dealing with insurance and insurers across the industry. The report was co-funded by Zurich Stakeholders from across all genres of insurance worked closely with the group to better understand LGBTQIA+ customer experiences with insurance providers and make actionable recommendations for change.
The report and it’s recommendations provided a roadmap towards better inclusion for LGBTQIA+ customers with improved experiences and greater support. Equally, the Worth The Risk Report allowed our respective organisations within the insurance industry to work towards lasting change for LGBTQIA+ insurance customers and ensuring that everyone has fair access to the benefits and protections of insurance.
Our collaboration with the Victorian Pride Lobby has resulted in the ‘Worth the Risk’ Report which was officially launched in June 2022 and can be accessed via the Victorian Pride Lobby’s website here.
The Report in the News
- ‘One in two LGBTQIA+ people report discrimination or exclusion in insurance‘ – ABC News, Thu 9 Jun 2022.
- ‘One in Two LGBT Australians Have Faced Discrimination in Insurance‘ – QNews, Thu 9 Jun 2022.
- ‘Offensive and outdated’: LGBTIQA+ Australians seek insurance reform‘ – Insurance Business News, Thu 9 Jun 2022.
- ‘LGBTIQA+ discrimination persists in the insurance industry, survey reveals‘ – Insurance Business Australia, Fri 10 Jun 2022.
- ‘Worth the Risk: What can be learned from LGBTIQA+ experiences with the insurance industry‘ – PRObono Australia, Tue 14 June 2022.
- ‘Worth the Risk — LGBTIQA+ experience with insurance providers‘ – The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF), Mon 27 Jun 2022.
- ‘Worth the Risk report: LGBTIQA discrimination in insurance‘ – Plan For Life Actuaries and Researchers, Tue 28 Jun 2022.
A year on with a community roundtable
In August 2023, InsurePride returned with the Victorian Pride Lobby to come together with both community and industry to discuss a year on from the report’s release. The event was hosted between Sydney and Melbourne, at the TAL insurance building in Sydney, and Thorne Harbour Health in Melbourne, where numerous representatives from insurers, industry bodies and LGBTQ+ community health and advocacy organisations attended in both locations.
It allowed an opportunity to share what progress has been made, what work was still to be done, and gain feedback from community representatives on the steer for next steps.
There was always the hope that the report published would serve as a catalyst for industry-wide reflection and importantly, change for the better. There are early indicators from progress made across the industry that the Worth The Risk Report has helped galvanise insurers, providing critically needed evidence to advance key LGBTQ+ customer inclusion priorities across all categories of insurance.
Insurers move in different spaces across the insurance landscape, and are at different stages of their LGBTQ+ inclusion journey. With differences across the categories, they experience difference success outcomes as well as barriers as a result. Despite this, many insurers have increased their activities in LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion, and reforms have been gaining traction in relation to many of the recommendations from the report.
During the event, insurers and industry bodies provided updates for progress made in their respective businesses and industries. Some insurers have made great progress in their policy space, including the removal of invasive questions around sex for People Living with HIV (PLHIV), medical reporting and mental health impacts, which are key recommendations from the report.
There has also been progress in brand visibility and awareness spaces, with increased representation in media, targeted resource development for the LGBTQ+ community, and training for internal staff.
Insurance industry bodies across the categories of insurance have been strong supporters and collaborators in this space, along with the support from the community health and advocacy groups who supported the original report’s development and also attended the roundtable event.
The next step
As insurance firms are continuing to progress greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in this space, it’s important to ensure that they are reaching the community where they are, in a way that’s supportive and through channels that are utilised by the LGBTQ+ community, not only the ones that insurers themselves use. Consider community radio (such as JOYfm), LGBTQ+ specific community events and fair days, as well as community-specific websites and communication channels.
Progress has been made in a positive direction, but insurance firms need to consider how to promote these advances, changes and greater steps toward inclusion to the communities they’re looking to reach. As its one thing for insurance firms to increase their LGBTQ+ inclusive activities, but if the community doesn’t know it’s happening, they don’t know to check in the first place.
Community support and health organisations can additionally support this in a way that does not promote individual insurers, but can speak holistically to industry progress and change. They don’t want to sit on the fact that products are now available to the LGBTQ+ community, so insurance firms making advances in this area need to consider how to get these improvements communicated to the industry.
While insurers aren’t looking to rest on their laurels and there is much work to do, it was additionally acknowledged during the event that it’s important for the LGBTQ+ community to actively contribute to tipping the scales in favour of creating better outcomes for our community.
With the increase of online abuse from far right and ultra-conservative groups, they are actively targeting businesses who publicly engage in LGBTQ+ inclusion activities. It risks reversing the momentum gained as a result of frontline staff coming under fire, or businesses only seeing abuse instead of positive outcomes.
By supporting the continued progress being done in this space, and encouraging insurers, it makes it easier for those of us working behind the scenes to continue the momentum.
Our Official Partners
