By Justin Hendry on Jul 5, 2021 12:28PM
Looks to include incidents under national terrorism insurance scheme.
Treasury will consider whether cyber terrorism that causes physical property damage should be added to the national terrorism insurance scheme for a second time in three years.
With the volume of cyber attacks continuing to increase, the department is set to revisit the eligibility of cyber attacks under the scheme as part of its latest review of the underlying legislation.
Cyber incidents are currently one of several events excluded as a “cause of property damage” under the Terrorism Insurance Act, introduced in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Australian Treasury
The Coalition Government is continuing to act to ensure that Australians have appropriate insurance cover and remain financially protected from acts of terrorism.
The Government has commenced the 2021 review of the Terrorism Insurance Act 2003 (the Act), which established a scheme for replacement terrorism insurance coverage for commercial property. The Act also established the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC) as a statutory authority to administer the scheme. Both the scheme and the ARPC began operations on 1 July 2003.
As the scheme was established as an interim measure and was intended to operate only while terrorism cover is commercially unavailable on reasonable terms, the Act requires a review be undertaken every three years to assess the need for the scheme to continue in operation. In addition, the 2021 review will consider whether the risk of cyber terrorism causing physical property damage should be included in the scheme.