Genetic discrimination is a health policy issue of international concern to clinicians, patients, researchers and policy-makers, and threatens the success of genomic medicine.

In Australia, genetic discrimination in life insurance is legal and leads to public health harms, including deterring at-risk individuals from clinically indicated testing.

In 2018, a Parliamentary Joint Committee recommended an urgent ban be implemented on the use of predictive genetic test results in life insurance underwriting in Australia. In 2019, the insurance industry introduced a self-regulated moratorium that applies until 2024, but only to life insurance policies up to certain financial limits. 

This research paper evaluated whether the moratorium meets the Parliamentary Committee recommendations, and found that it falls short in key areas. The authors urge further regulation by the Australian government to ensure the intended level of consumer protection.