Submissions flow into review of insurance discrimination
More than 1000 submissions have been made to the Federal Government’s review of laws around the use of consumers’ genetic test results by life insurance companies.
The Commonwealth Treasury confirmed that at least 60 of those submissions were from organisations and more than 950 were from individuals. Submissions closed on January 31.
Australian Genomics has called for new laws including a total ban on insurance companies using genetic test results to underwrite life insurance policies.
In a joint submission with the Australian Alliance for Indigenous Genomics (ALIGN) it says attention should be paid to the impact of genetic discrimination on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to avoid compounding inequities around access to genomic healthcare and research.
To ensure consumers’ confidence that their results are fully protected, the legislation should not contain any limits, caps, or exclusions, the submission says.