Domestic violence perpetrators ‘weaponising’ insurance policies in Australia to exert control, report finds

Centre for Women’s Economic Safety calls on insurance companies to redesign their products to protect victim-survivors

Domestic violence perpetrators are “weaponising” insurance policies to exert financial control over their partners, according to a new report that urges insurance companies to redesign their products to protect victim-survivors.

The report from the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety found that victim-survivors of domestic violence were being denied insurance payouts when their property was damaged – including having their home burned down or car destroyed – because the damage had been done by their partner, who was also a policyholder, thereby voiding the insurance claim.

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Australia news live: Dutton says reports of WA boat arrival ‘disturbing’; Barnaby Joyce denies drinking problem

Opposition leader calls on home affairs minister Clare O’Neil to provide explanation on whether government has ‘lost control’ of borders. Follow the day’s news live

About 400 requests for assistance remaining in Victoria, SES says

The Victorian state emergency service says there are about 400 active requests for assistance remaining, after the extreme weather earlier this week.

We’re making good progress restoring services following the severe storms in Victoria, with more than 90% of our mobile sites now back online.

Many of our network sites have back up power that kept services running after the storms hit, but that back-up power may not last during extended power outages.

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Australian Catholic church’s insurer launches court bid to cover smaller share of abuse compensation

Scandal-plagued PwC would determine payout rates under scheme proposed by Catholic Church Insurance in effort to avoid insolvency

The Catholic church insurer wants to establish a scheme that would stave off its own insolvency by paying church bodies only a fraction of the money owed to abuse survivors at rates to be determined by the scandal-plagued consultancy PwC, documents show.

Catholic Church Insurance is facing significant financial turmoil due to the rising volume of abuse claims, estimating it has $381m in liabilities relating to professional standards payouts to various church entities, including dioceses and church-aligned charities.

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Australia must urgently adapt to extreme weather or face soaring premiums, insurers warn

Exclusive: Assistant treasurer says insurers warned government ‘you’ve got five years’ to reduce vulnerability to climate crisis

Global insurers say Australia is running out of time to reduce its vulnerability to the climate crisis and faces higher premiums for households and businesses.

“They said, ‘you’ve got five years basically’,” said the federal assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, who led a delegation last month to insurance centres in London and Munich.

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